Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure

and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Chapter 8

Murder

UNIT THREE: CRIMINAL LAW

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Introduction The biblical story of Cain and Abel illustrates a second

fall of humans from grace following expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Cain’s exile at hard labor was both the first punishment for murder and symbolically the start of civilized society’s struggle with violence.

Murder Proving a crime is committed is called establishing

corpus delicti, or the body of the crime. Corpus delicti must be established beyond a reasonable

doubt.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Premeditated Murder The first-recorded murder in Colonial America was

committed by one of the original Pilgrims from the Mayflower.

The punishment for murder was hanging. After the Revolution, state legislatures created various

classifications of murders by statute. Premeditated murder is virtually always classified as

first-degree murder. By definition, a person committed first-degree murder

must form the intent to kill his victim. The law requires the person to have “malice

aforethought.” There are some common law doctrines that have

traditionally been held to establish intent.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Under the deadly weapon doctrine if the defendant points a loaded gun at the victim and pulls the trigger, he intended to kill the person.

Juries must determine the presence of a deadly weapon on a case-by-case basis.

Transferred intent can occur when the victim is not the one the defendant meant to kill.

Lesser Degrees of Murder Defendants who only intended to “rough someone up,”

but killed him or her by mistake may lack the intent to kill necessary for first-degree murder. Nevertheless, they are said to possess an “intent to do serious bodily harm.

These murders may result in a conviction of second-degree murder, or even manslaughter depending on the definitions in the state.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Felony Murder The felony murder rule applies to those who agree to act

with others to commit a criminal act. If one of the parties to the criminal enterprise commits

the murder, all are held to be equally culpable under the felony murder rule.

Most jurisdictions follow the res gestae theory, that if the “killing was committed in, about or as part of the underlying transaction,” all conspirators were guilty of the murder.

A conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to engage in a criminal act.

Conspiracy requires that at least one of the participants takes a step toward the commission of the crime.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Inchoate crimes like conspiracy are punished as if the crime had been completed.

Some courts have moved the limit the felony murder rule, which is not universally recognized in the US.

Manslaughter Manslaughter is a classification of criminal homicide that

is less than murder. Manslaughter can either be voluntary or involuntary.

Voluntary manslaughter is where the defendant acted willfully, but was somewhat justified in his actions.

Manslaughter also comes into play in plea bargaining arrangements. Defendants may agree take a manslaughter conviction instead of going to trial and risking a murder conviction.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Murder charges may be reduced to manslaughter charges if the court believes the crime occurred in the heat of passion as long as other elements are present. Adequate provocation is weighted on a case-by-case

basis. Often the homicide investigation will explore whether

the defendant had time to “cool off” between the provocation and the crime.

The killing must be in reaction to the provocation. Juries must decide heat of passion issues in light of the

reasonable person test. Involuntary manslaughter refers to two types of

homicides, criminal negligence manslaughter and unlawful act manslaughter.

Many traffic deaths have a special category of homicide entitled homicide by vehicle.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Euthanasia A euthanasia, or mercy killing movement has grown

steadily since the 1970s. Advocates of euthanasia claim it gives people the right to end their life on their own terms.

Some states have even passed “doctor-assisted suicide” laws.

Infanticide Infanticide is the murder of a newborn or very young

child. Infanticide is different from abortion in that the child has

been born.

Basic Criminal Law: The United States Constitution, Procedure and CrimesAnniken U. Davenport

©2006 Pearson Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice HallUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Killings That Are Not Crimes Justifiable homicides are those killings committed out of

duty with no criminal intent. When the state executes a person who has been duly convicted, the killing is not a murder.

Military actions are not murders. Killing done in self-defense is not murder.

Practice Pointers Representation of a capital defendant is an awesome

responsibility, whether as part of the prosecution team or the defense.

There are resources available today that were not available a few years ago. These include national and state bar associations, and professional associations.