In 2018, a high school chemistry teacher was conducting a science demonstration involving liquid nitrogen. A student volunteered to be part of the demonstration. The student laid down on the ground, and the teacher poured liquid nitrogen on the student’s chest. The nitrogen traveled to the student’s groin area, causing injuries to the student and requiring the student to be treated at the hospital. The teacher subsequently resigned from his teaching position and relinquished his teaching license because of the incident.
The teacher was charged with reckless conduct and of child endangerment. After a criminal trial, the jury found him guilty of both charges. The appellate court determined that the jury’s findings were inconsistent with one another, because the two findings required different states of mind. According to the appellate court, the reckless conduct charge only required the teacher to act with a reckless state of mind, whereas endangering the health of a child requires a knowing mental state. The appellate court also concluded that the testimony of a professor of Chemistry characterizing the conduct as “dangerous” was appropriate for the jury to hear. The case has been sent back to the lower court for a new trial.
