KOPP IN COURT (waives his right to a jury trial)

WKBW-TV, Buffalo NY ^ | March 11, 2003

[Marianne]

A jury trial that could have lasted as long as a month now could be over in less than a day. James Kopp is waiving his right to have a 12-member jury decide his fate. Instead, Erie County Court Judge Michael D'Amico will decide whether Kopp is guilty in the murder of Amherst abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian. Kopp was indicted on two charges: intentional murder and murder by impraved indifference. there would be no witnesses taking the stand, all of the evidence presented by the prosecution would be agreed to by the defense. Attorneys on both sides see a benefit in proceeding this way.

Judge D'Amico is expected to question Kopp about the decision when the parties return to court late this afternoon.

[Marianne]

Baffling!

[dep]

murder by impraved indifference

yup. the imfense impartment gets accused of this by imfense lawyers sometimes, too.

dep

[Illbay]

What the heck is "impraved indifference?"

[Marianne]

From a previously posted newspaper article:
"Deputy District Attorney Joseph J. Marusak, who already had charged Kopp with intentional murder, then went back to a grand jury and got an additional charge of causing his death by depraved indifference." (I don't think "impraved" is a word)
I searched several online law dictionaries without much success. However, I did find one reference:
"In Tison v. Arizona, however, the Court eased the 'intent to kill' requirement, holding that, in keeping with an 'apparent consensus' among the states, 'major participation in the felony committed, combined with reckless indifference to human life, is sufficient to satisfy the Enmund culpability requirement.' " LINK
The cases referenced on this site all deal with the "death penalty." However, as part of the agreement to extradite James Kopp, the U.S. had to stipulate that they would not seek the death penalty.
This doesn't really answer your question. Hopefully a Freeper, who is a lawyer, will add more detail.