Jessica's Law (NH) (RSA 265:79-b)

See RSA 265:79-b. Negligent Driving. This is Jessica's Law.

See RSA 259:125 for the definition of "way."

See RSA 263:46-a. Notification of Offenses, and RSA 263:51. Grounds for Revoking or Suspending School License or Driver Education Certificate

See RSA 626:2, II(d). General Requirements of Culpability for the definition of "negligently."

"Purpose and knowledge are the most culpable levels in the criminal law's mental-state “hierarchy.” … Recklessness and negligence are less culpable mental states because they instead involve insufficient concern with a risk of injury. A person acts recklessly, in the most common formulation, when he “consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk” attached to his conduct, in “gross deviation” from accepted standards. That risk need not come anywhere close to a likelihood. Speeding through a crowded area may count as reckless even though the motorist's “chances of hitting anyone are far less [than] 50%.” Similarly (though one more step down the mental-state hierarchy), a person acts negligently if he is not but “should be aware” of such a “substantial and unjustifiable risk,” again in “gross deviation” from the norm. There, the fault lies in the person's simple “failure to perceive” the possible consequence of his behavior."

"[T]he difference between recklessness and negligence is that a person is reckless if he is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial risk that a material element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct, whereas one is negligent when he fails to become aware of a substantial risk that an essential element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct."

"In March 2018, the defendant was pulled over by a police officer, who saw him drive by in a commercial van “that had a large amount of snow on the roof.” When asked, the defendant indicated that he was familiar with the law prohibiting driving a vehicle with snow on its roof. ... The defendant was charged by complaint with negligent driving."

"To convict the defendant of negligent driving, the State was required to prove that he drove “a vehicle [upon any way] negligently . . . as defined in RSA 626:2, II(d), or in a manner that endanger[ed] or [was] likely to endanger any person or property.” … Criminal negligence requires some serious blameworthiness in the defendant’s conduct that caused the substantial and unjustifiable risk. Whether a defendant has acted negligently does not depend on any actual harm that resulted from the defendant’s conduct."