An intoxicated driver who struck and killed a pedestrian acted under which mental state?

The correct answer is that the intoxicated driver acted recklessly. Recklessness is characterized by a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor's situation. In this scenario, driving under the influence of alcohol demonstrates a substantial disregard for the safety of others. The driver, by choosing to drive while intoxicated, exposes others to significant danger, which meets the criteria for recklessness.

In contrast, negligence would imply that the driver failed to be as careful as a reasonable person would be, without the conscious disregard for the risk. Intentionally means that the driver would have had the purpose to cause harm, while knowingly indicates that the driver was aware of the risk and consciously disregarded it. However, in this case, the focus is primarily on the reckless behavior of driving while intoxicated, which greatly increases the likelihood of causing harm to others and ultimately led to the tragic incident involving the pedestrian.