Clarifies that encouraging another person to cause bodily injury, by filming, photographing, or otherwise recording injury-causing act, is form of crime of endangering injured victim.

A4169

ASSEMBLY, No. 4169

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Clarifies that encouraging another person to cause
bodily injury, by filming, photographing, or otherwise recording injury-causing
act, is form of crime of endangering injured victim.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning the criminal encouragement of persons
to cause bodily injury and amending P.L.2000, c.174.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2000,
c.174 (C.2C:12-1.2) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� Endangering an injured
victim. a. A person is guilty of endangering an injured victim if he causes
bodily injury to any person or solicits, aids, encourages,
including by
filming, photographing, or otherwise recording the act causing bodily injury,

or attempts or agrees to aid another, who causes bodily injury to any person,
and leaves the scene of the injury knowing or reasonably believing that the
injured person is physically helpless, mentally incapacitated or otherwise
unable to care for himself.

���� b.��� As used in this section,
the following definitions shall apply:

���� (1)�� �Physically helpless�
means the condition in which a person is unconscious, unable to flee, or
physically unable to summon assistance;

���� (2)�� �Mentally incapacitated�
means that condition in which a person is rendered temporarily or permanently
incapable of understanding or controlling one�s conduct, or of appraising or
controlling one�s condition, which incapacity shall include but is not limited
to an inability to comprehend one�s own peril;

���� (3)�� �Bodily injury� shall
have the meaning set forth in N.J.S.2C:11-1.

���� c.���� It is an affirmative
defense to prosecution for a violation of this section that the defendant
summoned medical treatment for the victim or knew that medical treatment had
been summoned by another person, and protected the victim from further injury
or harm until emergency assistance personnel arrived.� This affirmative defense
shall be proved by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence.

���� d.��� A person who violates
the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.�
Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:1-8 or any other provision of law, a
conviction arising under this subsection shall not merge with a conviction of
the crime that rendered the person physically helpless or mentally
incapacitated, nor shall such other conviction merge with a conviction under
this section.� Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:44-5 or any other
provision of law, the sentence imposed pursuant to this section shall be
ordered to be served consecutively to that imposed for any conviction of the
crime that rendered the person physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

���� e.���� Nothing herein shall be
deemed to preclude, if the evidence so warrants, an indictment and conviction
for murder, manslaughter, assault or any other offense.

(cf: P.L.2000, c.174, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill amends the existing
crime of endangering an injured victim to clarify that encouraging another
person to cause bodily injury to a victim, by filming, photographing, or
otherwise recording the injury-causing act, is a form of such crime.� This crime
is graded as a crime of the third degree, ordinarily punishable by a term of
imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.�

���� The current law already makes
it a crime for a person to �encourage� another who causes bodily injury to any
person and then leaves the scene of the injury knowing or believing that the
resulting injured person is physically helpless, mentally incapacitated, or
otherwise unable to care for himself.�

���� The bill is intended to
address recent incidents of particularly heinous assaults in New York City in
which bystanders recorded violent attacks against Asian Americans without
rendering aid or calling for medical assistance.�