Homicide Flashcards
(22 cards)
common law murder
the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought
malice aforethought
exists if there are no facts reducing the killing to voluntary manslaughter or excusing it and it was committed with one of the following states of mind:
- Intent to kill (intentional use of deadly weapon is permissive inference of intent to kill)
- Intent to inflict great bodily injury
- reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (“abandoned and malignant heart” or “depraved heart”); or
- Intent to commit a felony (felony murder)
first degree murder - deliberate and premeditated
If the defendant made the decision to kill in a cool and dispassionate manner and actually reflected on the idea of killing, even if only for a very brief period, it is first degree murder. The defendant must have acted with intent or knowledge that their conduct would cause death.
first degree murder
A murder will be second degree murder (similar to common law murder) unless it comes under the following circumstances, which would make it first degree murder:
- deliberate and premeditated
- felony murder
- Some statutes make killings performed in certain ways (for example, by torture) or with certain victims first degree murder
second degree
usually classified as a depraved heart killing (a killing done with a reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life) or any murder that is not classified as a first degree murder.
felony murder - generally
Any death—even an accidental death—caused in the commission of, or in an attempt to commit, a felony is murder. Malice is implied from the intent to commit the underlying felony.
felony murder - felonies included
At common law, there are only a handful of felonies (such as burglary, arson, rape, etc.).
Statutes today have created many more felonies, and state statutes often indicate specific felonies that may now serve as the basis for felony murder.
felony murder limitations on liability
1) D must have committed/attempted to commit the underlying felony; a defense that negates an element of the underlying offense will also be a defense to felony murder.
2) The felony must be distinct from the killing itself
3) Death must have been a foreseeable result of the felony
4) death must have been caused before the defendant’s “immediate flight” from the felony ended; once the felon has reached a place of “temporary safety,” subsequent deaths are not felony murder.
5) most jurisdictions, the defendant is not liable for felony murder when a co-felon is killed as a result of resistance from the felony victim or the police.
felony murder - proximate cause theory
Under the “proximate cause” theory, felons are liable for the deaths of innocent victims caused by someone other than a co-felon
felony murder - agency theory
Under the alternative “agency” theory of felony murder, the killing must be committed by a felon or their “agent” (that is, an accomplice) with limited exceptions in cases in which the victim was used as a shield or otherwise forced by the felon to occupy a dangerous place.
voluntary manslaughter - generally
killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation
voluntary manslaughter - provocation is adequate only if:
1) Sudden and intense passion that would cause a reasonable person to lose control
2) D was in fact provoked
3) Not enough time for a reasonable person to cool off
4) D did not cool off
imperfect self-defense
Some states recognize an “imperfect self-defense” doctrine under which murder may be reduced to manslaughter even though
(1) the defendant was at fault in starting the altercation; or
(2) the defendant unreasonably but honestly believed in the necessity of responding with deadly force (meaning the defendant’s actions do not qualify for self-defense).
involuntary manslaughter - generally
Killing committed:
1) With criminal negligence (or MPC “recklessness)
2) OR In some states, during the commission of an unlawful act (misdemeanor or felony not included within felony murder rule). Foreseeability of death also may be a requirement.
abandoned+malignant heart vs. involuntary manslaughter
Abandoned and malignant heart murder at common law involves a high risk of death while involuntary manslaughter based on recklessness requires only a substantial risk.
causation - generally
The defendant’s conduct must be both the cause-in-fact and the proximate cause of the victim’s death.
causation - Proximate cause
result is a natural and probable consequence of the conduct, even if the defendant did not anticipate the precise manner in which the result occurred.
Superseding factors break the chain of proximate causation.
causation - cause in fact
would not have occurred “but for” the defendant’s conduct.
rules of causation
An act that hastens an inevitable result is still the legal cause of that result.
simultaneous acts of two or more persons may be independently sufficient causes of a single result.
A victim’s preexisting weakness or fragility, even if unforeseeable, does not break the chain of causation.
causation limitations - year and a day rule
Traditionally, death of the victim must occur within one year and one day from infliction of the injury or wound. Most states have abolished this rule
causation limitations - intervening acts
Generally, an intervening act shields the defendant from liability if the act is a coincidence or is outside the foreseeable sphere of risk created by the defendant. Note that a third party’s negligent medical care and the victim’s refusal of medical treatment for religious reasons are both foreseeable risks, so the defendant would be liable.
