Street Law Ch' 09: Crimes Against The Person

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Street Law Ch. 09Crimes Against The Person
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Ch. 09 Homicide

• Key Terms
• Homicide
• Malice
• First Degree Murder
• Felony Murder
• Voluntary Manslaughter
• Involuntary Manslaughter
• Negligent Homicide

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Ch. 09 HomicidesWhy Do I Need To Know This?

• Because homicides are the most serious crimes and
  can result in the death penalty.
• Because when a person is killed it affects
  everyone in the society.
• Because not all homicides result in criminal
  punishment.

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Homicides

• A homicide is any time that one person is killed
  by another person.
• Not all homicides result in criminal punishment.
• For example, when a soldier at war kills an enemy
  soldier on the battlefield, it is a homicide, but
  does not result in criminal prosecution.
• Also, when a doctor tries to do a life-saving
  operation and does everything right, but the
  patient still dies, it is not a homicide.

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Criminal HomicidesFirst Degree

• First Degree homicides are the most serious
  homicides and can result in the death penalty.
• There are 2 types of First Degree homicides.
  They are
• First Degree Murder
• Felony Murder
• First Degree Murder occurs when a person kills
  another with malice aforethought.
• Malice means to have the intent to kill or to
  cause serious harm to another person.
• Malice is also legally implied if the defendant
  acts with reckless indifference to life, has the
  intent to commit a felony, or uses a deadly
  weapon.
• Malice can form within a split second and can
  happen in just a second before the homicide.

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Criminal HomicidesFirst Degree

• Felony Murder is another type of First Degree
  homicide that can result in the death penalty.
• Felony Murder is the most common and easiest to
  prove type of first degree homicide.
• In order to be guilty of Felony Murder, the
  person must be guilty of an underlying felony.
• The underlying felony must be a serious or
  violent felony.
• Any death that happens during the commission of
  the felony will result in a felony murder charge.
• The death can happen after the felony is over,
  but the events must have triggered the death.
• The death could result from actions of the police
  or bystanders.
• The death could even be of an accomplice to the
  crime!

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Criminal HomicidesSecond Degree

• Second Degree homicides occur when a person kills
  another with malice but without premeditation.
• These are known as the depraved heart type
  homicides.
• These are very rare types of homicides.
• An example would be a person who starts a fist
  fight and in the fight decides to kill the
  victim.
• Another example would be a soldier killing an
  enemy who is trying to surrender during a
  firefight.

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Criminal HomicidesVoluntary Manslaughter

• Voluntary manslaughter is a homicide that would
  be murder, except that the victim provoked the
  defendant.
• The victim must have done something to the
  defendant that would cause a sudden and intense
  passion in an ordinary person to lose self
  control.
• And, the defendant must not have had any time to
  cool off between the provocation and the
  homicide.
• The provocation must be severemerely calling
  someone names is generally not enough for
  manslaughter.
• Manslaughter is generally punished much less than
  1st degree murder.

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Criminal HomicidesInvoluntary Manslaughter

• There are 2 types of involuntary manslaughter
• Involuntary Manslaughter
• Criminal Negligence
• Involuntary manslaughter is punished less than
  voluntary manslaughter, with the punishment
  depending on what the defendant did.
• Punishments can range from fines, to probation to
  short jail sentences.

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Criminal HomicidesInvoluntary Manslaughter

• Involuntary manslaughter is a killing in which
  there is no intent to kill at all, but results
  from conduct so reckless that it causes extreme
  danger or risk of bodily harm.
• Involuntary manslaughter can result when the
  defendant commits a misdemeanor that results in a
  persons death (this is essentially misdemeanor
  manslaughter).

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Criminal HomicidesCriminal Negligence

• Criminal Negligence occurs when a defendant fails
  to use reasonable or ordinary care.
• Some examples include playing with a loaded gun,
  lighting fireworks, speeding with a car or boat,
  DUI, etc.
• Not only can people be held criminally liable for
  criminal negligence, businesses can also be
  punished for this crime as well!
• Usually the business is punished with a fine,
  which may be placed upon the business itself or
  the officers and directors of the business.