Mossow was charged with reckless endangerment while it is perfectly legal to solicit someone to shoot you. They went for a charge in the first degree. The two options are below.
S 120.20 Reckless endangerment in the second degree.
A person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the second degree when
he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of
serious physical injury to another person.
Reckless endangerment in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.S 120.25 Reckless endangerment in the first degree.
A person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the first degree when,
under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he
recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to
another person.
Reckless endangerment in the first degree is a class D felony.
The nice thing about reckless endangerment is that there is no defense for consent. This is a difference between criminal law and torts that we often discuss in class. However, it is worth noting that, even in torts, courts routinely ignore consent as a matter of public policy. You generally cannot consent to illegal acts.
Mossow will not be able to use his friend’s invitation as a defense but might be able to use it to mitigate on sentencing. A plea seems like a good idea. The use of the first degree may have been a way to allow for a charge to be pled down. The first degree charge indicates “a grave risk of death to
another person.” Being shot with a .22 in the leg does carry a risk of death if you hit an artery or have some other complication, though it is generally not a life-threatening wound.
Of course, as the Matchbox Twenty song Bright Lights says, they now have “a scar I can talk about.”
Source: KSEE as first seen on Reddit