Chapter 9: Crimes Against Persons 1: Murder and Manslaughter Flashcards
born-alive rule
the rule that to be a person, and therefore a homicide victim, a baby had to be “born alive” and capable of breathing and maintaining a heartbeat on its own
feticide
the crime of killing a fetus
murder
killing a person with “malice aforethought”
manslaughter
killing a person without “malice aforethought”
justifiable homicide
killing in self-defense
excusable homicide
killings done by someone “not of sound memory and discretion”
criminal homicide
all homicides that are neither justified nor excused
malice aforethought
originally the mental state of intentional killing, with some amount of spite, hate, or bad will, planned in advance of the killing
depraved heart murder
(also called depraved indifference murder) extremely reckless killings
intent to cause serious bodily injury
no intent to kill is required when a victim dies following acts triggered by the intent to inflict serious bodily injury short of death
serious bodily injury
bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death; protracted unconsciousness; extreme physical pain; protracted or obvious disfigurement; or protracted loss or substantial impairment of a function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty
“express” malice aforethought
the mental element of killings that fit the original meaning of “murder”—intentional killings planned in advance
“implied” malice aforethought
the mental element of intentional killings without premeditation or reasonable provocation; unintentional killings during the commission of felonies; depraved heart killings; and intent to inflict grievous bodily harm killings
murder actus reus
the act of killing by poisoning, striking, starving, drowning, and a thousand other forms by which human nature can be overcome
murder mens rea
can include purposeful, knowing, or reckless as the mental element in killing
first-degree murder
the only crime today in which the death penalty can be imposed, consisting of
(1) premeditated, deliberate intent to kill murders
(2) felony murders
capital cases
death penalty cases in death penalty states and “mandatory life sentence without parole” cases in non–death penalty states
bifurcation procedure
the requirement that the death penalty decision be made in two phases: a trial to determine guilt and a second separate proceeding, after a finding of guilt, to consider the aggravating factors for, and mitigating factors against, capital punishment
deadly weapon doctrine
one who intentionally uses a deadly weapon on another human being and thereby kills him is presumed to have formed the intent to kill
second-degree murder
murders that aren’t first-degree murders, including intentional murders that weren’t premeditated or deliberate, felony murders, intent to inflict serious bodily injury murders, and depraved heart murders
felony murder rule
unintentional deaths that occur during the commission of some felonies are murders
manslaughter (pt. 2)
an ancient common law crime created by judges, not by legislators, consisting of two crimes: voluntarily or involuntarily killing another person
voluntary manslaughter
suddenly and intentionally killing another person in the heat of anger following adequate provocation; elements include murder actus reus, mens rea, causation, and death
adequate provocation
the requirement that the provocation for killing in anger has to be something the law recognizes, the defendant himself had to be provoked, and that a reasonable person would have been provoked
objective test of cooling-off time
requires that a reasonable person under the same circumstances would have had time to cool off
“words can never provoke” rule
the rule that words are never adequate provocation to reduce murder to manslaughter
“last straw” rule
also called the “long smoldering” or “slow burn” rule, defines adequate provocation as “a smoldering resentment or pent-up rage resulting from earlier insults or humiliating events culminating in a triggering event that, by itself, might be insufficient to provoke the deadly act”
extreme mental or emotional disturbance manslaughter
a homicide committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse. The reasonableness of such explanation or excuse shall be determined from the viewpoint of the person in the actor’s situation under the circumstances as he believes them to be
paramour rule
the common law rule that a husband who caught his wife in the act of adultery had adequate provocation to kill; today, it applies to both parties of a marriage
gay panic
adequate provocation based on “the theory that a person with latent homosexual tendencies will have an extreme and uncontrollably violent reaction when confronted with a homosexual proposition”
emotion-act distinction
separating the emotions that led to a killing from the question of whether the killing itself was reasonable
act reasonableness
meaning “a finding that a reasonable person in the defendant’s shoes would have responded as violently as the defendant did”
emotional reasonableness
a finding that “the defendant’s emotional outrage or passion was reasonable”
involuntary manslaughter
an unintentional killing (mens rea) by a voluntary act or omission (actus reus)
criminal negligence manslaughter
death caused by a person who is aware that her acts create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death or serious bodily injury, but acts anyway
unlawful act or misdemeanor manslaughter
unintended deaths occurring during the commission of nonhomicide offenses
malum prohibitum crime
death has to be a foreseeable consequence of the unlawful act; the act is unlawful only because it’s prohibited by a specific statute or ordinance
euthanasia
helping another person die
presumption of bodily integrity
a state can’t exercise power over individual members of society except to prevent harm to others
