D
Deleted member 39678
Guest
Hi Ranch:
Could you explain this a little more for me please? I am just not getting it.
Thanks
"Maliciously causing excessive physical or mental pain" means the state would have to show that the defendant used malice.
Malice
The intentional commission of a wrongful act, absent justification, with the intent to cause harm to others; conscious violation of the law that injures another individual; a mental state indicating a disposition in disregard of social duty and a tendency toward malfeasance.
By reducing the charge against JRH to second degree child cruelty, the state doesn't have to show malice.
JMO.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/malice