PERMITTING ESCAPE-PUBLIC SERVANT
(N.J.S.A. 2C:29-5b)
Defendant is charged with the crime of permitting escape. The relevant statute provides that "A public servant concerned in detention commits an offense if he knowingly or recklessly permits an escape."
To obtain a conviction on this charge, the State must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:
1) That defendant was a public servant concerned in detention;
2) That defendant permitted an escape by another; and
3) That defendant acted knowingly or recklessly.
A public servant concerned in detention is an employee of a governmental entity, be it at the municipal, county or State level, whose employment is related to the custody and control of persons under arrest or confined in an institution on a charge or conviction.
To permit an escape is to allow it to happen. An escape is defined as a removal of oneself from official detention (or a failure to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or limited period) without lawful authority. Official detention basically means arrest or confinement in an institution on a charge or conviction.
Knowingly. A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of (his/her) conduct or the attendant circumstances if the person is aware that (his/her) conduct is of that nature, or that such circumstances exist, or the person is aware of a high probability of their existence. A person acts knowingly with respect to a result of (his/her) conduct if the person is aware that it is practically certain that (his/her) conduct will cause such a result.
Recklessly. A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when (he/she) consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from (his/her) conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to the actor, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
Again, the elements of the crime are that defendant was a public servant concerned indetention, that defendant permitted an escape by another, and that defendant acted knowingly or recklessly. If you find that the State has failed to prove any one or more of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then your verdict should be Not Guilty. On the other hand, if you find that the State has proven all of these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then your verdict should be Guilty.
NOTE: See the model charge on escape (N.J.S.A. 2C:29-5a) for further discussion on the elements of the crime of escape, the possible effects of legal irregularity in detention and the issue of grading under N.J.S.A. 2C:29-5d.