Reckless endangerment, also called recklessly endangering another person (or “REAP”) is a serious offense that is often tacked on to other charges. It consists of any reckless conduct that puts another person at risk of serious injury or death.
When you are charged with reckless endangerment, it can leawad to criminal charges, denial of bail, and other bail terms that limit your freedom. For example, if you were charged with REAP against your partner, it may result in a no-contact order. If your child is the alleged victim, child custody can literally or effectively be taken away until the charges are resolved.
For help with your charges, call our Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers at Kenny Burns & McGill at (215) 774-5644 right away.
Criminal Process for Reckless Endangerment Charges
From the commission of the crime, a basic criminal case progresses like this:
Arrest
When the police are notified of the alleged crime, either with a 911 call or a later report, they will typically come out and arrest you. With crimes like assault and reckless endangerment, the police often arrest you without a warrant. In some cases, they may be required to go to court to get an arrest warrant first.
Booking
This may happen out of order depending on when you can be arraigned and put before a judge for a bail hearing, but an arrest for a misdemeanor like REAP usually means being booked. That means your fingerprints will be taken and your information will be enrolled in a statewide arrest database.
Arraignment
At your arraignment, you are informed of the charges against you and can plead “not guilty” to continue fighting the charges.
Bail Hearing
After an arrest, a judge has to determine whether you can be released on bail and how much – if any – bail or bond is required. In many cases, recklessly endangering another person is charged alongside other offenses, such as
- Assault
- Domestic violence charges
- Child abuse charges
- Drunk driving
- Reckless driving.
In these cases, the judge might find that you are a serious danger to the community. Our Bucks County, PA criminal defense lawyers will need to argue for the best of these possible outcomes:
- Bail can be denied entirely, and you can be sent to jail for pretrial detention if the judge finds you are a danger to the community or have a significant flight risk and low ties to the community.
- With cash bail, you pay some amount of money to be released. You forfeit the money if you fail to return to court.
- With bond, you promise to pay a certain amount of money if you fail to return, and you pay only a percentage of it up front to get released (e.g., 10% or 20%).
- With “ROR” bail, you are “released on your own recognizance” and trusted to return to court on your own.
Preliminary Hearing
At a preliminary hearing, you and your lawyer get the first good look at the evidence against you. The prosecution needs to prove they have probable cause to proceed with the trial.
This can often be waived if you are going to apply for ARD or are already in negotiations for a plea agreement.
Plea Negotiations
Plea agreements can potentially save you a lot of jail time or reduce the charges to keep a more serious charge off your record. In some cases, this can save you from severe punishment, but you should never enter a plea deal without speaking with a lawyer about it.
Diversionary Programs
It may be possible to apply for diversionary programs like ARD or an agreement with the prosecution, which can involve participating in programs and community service to get the charges dropped.
Pretrial Hearings
Other hearings and scheduling conferences take place before your trial date.
Trial
If the case has not been resolved and the charges have not been dropped or dismissed, we can go to trial. The government needs to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt to convict you.
Sentencing
If you lose at trial or plead guilty, the judge sentences you based on evidence and findings about how serious the offense was, your previous criminal history, and more.
Possible Effects of Recklessly Endangering Another Person Charges Before Conviction
Even when you are charged with the single offense of reckless endangerment by itself, you can face immediate consequences and effects, even before you are convicted of anything. With additional charges, there may be even more restrictions in place, especially if felonies are involved.
Pretrial Detention
If you have multiple charges, including reckless endangerment, the judge might see you as a threat to the community. This could result in bail being denied and you being locked up while you await trial.
Bail Conditions
If you are released on bail, it could result in additional restrictions on your life that go into effect immediately, without additional court orders:
- Check-in requirements
- Orders to avoid contact with alleged victims, even if that is a spouse, dating partner, or your own children
- Restrictions on driving
- Orders not to return to a home shared with the defendant.
Violations of these restrictions can mean getting your bail revoked and being sent to pretrial detention. Some of these can effectively act like temporary custody orders or protection from abuse orders.
Child Custody Changes
If you are deemed dangerous, a coparent can take these charges and evidence to court and demand changes to an existing child custody order. For example, if you were accused of drunk driving and reckless endangerment because your children were in the car, your ex could use that to take the kids away.
Protection from Abuse Orders
If these REAP charges are part of a larger domestic violence case, you could be hit with an additional protection from abuse order (PFA) by your spouse/partner. This has even more power to
- Kick you out of your house
- Get your partner access to shared bank accounts and resources
- Limit your access to children and
- Limit your access to firearms.
Emergency PFAs last until 5 pm the following day before you even get a chance to challenge it in court.
Call Our Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Lawyers Today
For a free case evaluation, call (215) 774-5644 to speak with Kenny Burns & McGill’s Montgomery County, PA criminal defense lawyers right away.
