Homicide Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is the definition of murder under common law?
The unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.
What exists if there are no facts reducing the killing to voluntary manslaughter?
Malice aforethought.
What are the states of mind that establish malice aforethought? List them.
- Intent to kill
- Intent to inflict great bodily injury
- Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life
- Intent to commit a felony
What is voluntary manslaughter?
A killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation.
What constitutes adequate provocation for voluntary manslaughter?
- A provocation that would arouse sudden and intense passion in the mind of an ordinary person
- Not sufficient time for passions to cool off
What is involuntary manslaughter?
An unintentional killing committed with criminal negligence or during an unlawful act.
Define criminal negligence.
Grossly negligent action or inaction that puts another person at significant risk of serious bodily harm or death.
What is the misdemeanor-manslaughter rule?
An unintentional killing committed in the commission of a misdemeanor = involuntary manslaughter
How is murder divided in some jurisdictions?
Into degrees, typically first and second degree murder.
What makes a murder a first degree murder under statutory modification?
- Premeditation
- Felony murder
- Heinous murder
What is required for a murder to be considered premeditated?
The decision to kill was made in a cool and dispassionate manner.
What is the felony murder rule?
Any death caused in the commission of, or in an attempt to commit, a felony is murder.
What are the limitations of the felony murder rule? List them.
- The defendant must have committed or attempted to commit the underlying felony
- The felony must be distinct from the killing itself
- The death must have been a foreseeable result of the felony
- The death must have occurred before the defendant’s immediate flight from the felony
What is cause-in-fact in homicide?
A defendant’s conduct is the cause-in-fact if the death would not have occurred but for the defendant’s conduct.
What is proximate cause in homicide?
A defendant’s conduct is the proximate cause if the death is a natural and probable consequence of the conduct.
What events can break the chain of proximate causation?
Superseding events that are not foreseeable.
What traditionally limited a defendant’s liability for homicide regarding the timing of death?
The death must occur within one year and one day from infliction of the injury or wound.
True or False: A third party’s negligent medical care is considered a superseding event.
False.
Fill in the blank: Voluntary manslaughter is a killing that would be murder but for the existence of _______.
adequate provocation.
