Chapter 707 - Homicide & Related Crimes

Question 1

707.2 - Murder in the first degree

A person commits murder in the first degree when the person commits murder under any of the following circumstances:

Answer 1

A. The person willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation kills another person.

B. The person kills another person while participating in a forcible felony.

C. The person kills another person while escaping or attempting to escape from lawful custody.

D. The person intentionally kills a peace/correctional officer/public employee or hostage while the person is imprisoned in a correctional institution under jurisdiction of Iowa DOC or in a city/county jail.

E. The person kills a child while committing child endangerment under 726.6 subsection 1 pp B (intentional act/s using unreasonable force, torture, or cruelty resulting in/intended to cause serious injury), or while committing assault upon the child, and the death occurs under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.

F. Person kills another person while participating in a terrorist act.

Question 2

Murder in the first degree is what level offense?

Answer 2

707.2, Subsection 2

Class A Felony

Question 3

What is murder in the second degree?

Answer 3

707.3 - Murder in the Second Degree

1. “A person commits murder in the second degree when the person commits murder which is not murder in the first degree.”

Question 4

What level of offense is murder in the second degree?

Answer 4

707.3 - Murder in the second degree

Class B Felony

Question 5

What is the maximum period of confinement for murder in the second degree?

Answer 5

707.3 - Murder in the second degree

2. “…the maximum sentence for a person convicted under this section shall be a period of confinement of not more than 50 years.”

Question 6

A person who solicits another to commit murder commits what level of offense?

Answer 6

707.3A - Solicitation to commit murder

Class C Felony

Question 7

What is voluntary manslaughter?

Answer 7

707.4 - Voluntary Manslaughter

1. When a person causes the death of another, under circumstances which would otherwise be murder, if the person causing the death acts solely from sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite passion in a person and there isn’t an interval between the provocation and the killing in which a person of ordinary reason and temperament would regain control and suppress the impulse to kill.

Question 8

Voluntary manslaughter is what level of offense?

Answer 8

707.4, subsection 2

Class C Felony

Question 9

What is involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 9

707.5 - Involuntary Manslaughter

1. A person commits involuntary manslaughter punishable as:
   A. A class D felony when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by committing a public offense other than a forcible felony or escape.

B. An aggravated misdemeanor when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death/serious injury.

Question 10

Can a person who injures or causes the death of the aggressor through application of reasonable force in defense of the person/their property be held civilly liable for such injury/death?

Answer 10

707.5 - Involuntary Manslaughter

No.

Also cannot be held civilly liable for application of reasonable force in defense of a second person.

Question 11

What level of offense does a person commit when they unintentionally cause the death of another by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated?

Answer 11

707.6A - Homicide or serious injury by vehicle

Class B Felony

Question 12

If someone commits a homicide or serious injury with a vehicle, how long is the person’s drivers license/nonresident operating privilege revoked?

Answer 12

707.6A, subsection 1A

6 years, defendant is ineligible for a temp. restricted license for at least two years.

Question 13

707.6A - Homicide or serious injury with a vehicle

2. A person commits a class C felony when the person unintentionally causes the death of another by any of the following:

Answer 13

a. Driving a motor vehicle in a reckless manner with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property (includes using a phone, which is prima facie evidence that the person was driving in a reckless manner, unless it is a public safety agency performing official duties, a healthcare professional in an emergency, or a person receiving safety-related information

b. Eluding/attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, if the death of the other person directly or indirectly results from the violation.

c. Exceeding the posted speed limit by 25+ mph, does not apply to a public safety agency performing official duties.

Question 14

A person commits what level of offense when the person unintentionally causes the death of another while drag racing?

Answer 14

707.6A, subsection 3

Class D Felony

Question 15

A person attempts to commit murder when…

Answer 15

707.11 - Attempt to commit murder

“A person commits the offense of attempt to murder when, with the intent to cause the death of another person and not under circumstances which would justify the person’s actions, the person does any act by which the person expects to set in motion a force or chain or events which will cause or result in death of the other person.”

Question 16

Attempt to commit murder is what level of offense?

Answer 16

707.11, subsection 2

Class B Felony