§342D-34 - Knowing endangerment.
[§342D-34] Knowing endangerment. (a) Any person who knowingly violates this chapter or any rule adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter, or any condition in a permit issued under this chapter, and who knows at that time that the violation places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than $250,000 or imprisonment of not more than fifteen years, or both.
(b) A person which is an organization, upon conviction of violating this section, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000,000. If a conviction of a person is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this section, the maximum punishment shall be doubled with respect to both fine and imprisonment.
(c) For the purpose of this section, in determining whether a defendant who is an individual knew that the individual’s conduct placed another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury:
(1) The person is responsible only for actual awareness or actual belief that the person possessed; and
(2) Knowledge possessed by a person other than the defendant but not by the defendant may not be attributed to the defendant; except that in proving the defendant’s possession of actual knowledge, circumstantial evidence may be used, including evidence that the defendant took affirmative steps to shield himself or herself from relevant information.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that the conduct charged was consented to by the person endangered and that the danger and conduct charged were reasonably foreseeable hazards of:
(1) An occupation, a business, or a profession; or
(2) Medical treatment or medical or scientific experimentation conducted by professionally approved methods and such other person had been made aware of the risks involved prior to giving consent; and such defense may be established under this section by a preponderance of the evidence.
(e) The term “organization” means a legal entity, other than a government, established or organized for any purpose, and such term includes a corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, joint stock company, foundation, institution, trust, society, union, or any other association of persons.
(f) The term “serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. [L 1989, c 212, pt of §2]