Homicide

Question 1

What is common law murder?

Answer 1

The unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.

*common-law murder is a MALICE crime, not a specific-intent crime.

Question 2

What causations are required for homicide?

Answer 2

1. Actual causation: The victim would not have died but for the defendant’s act.
2. Proximate causation: The death caused by the defendant’s conduct is foreseeable as the natural and probable result of the conduct.

Question 3

What is depraved-heart murder?

Answer 3

Depraved-heart murder is a killing that results from reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life.

The majority rule requires the defendant to be aware of the danger involved.

Question 4

When, on the MBE, should you consider degrees of murder?

Answer 4

When the fact pattern supplies a statute.

Note: Degrees of murder do not exist at the common law. Under modern statutory rules, murder is generally divided into two degrees: first-degree and second-degree murder.

Question 5

What kind of “adequate provocation” may reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter?

Answer 5

A situation that could inflame the passion of a reasonable person to the extent that it could cause that person to momentarily act out of passion rather than reason.

Note: A serious battery, a threat of deadly force, or discovery of adultery by a spouse constitutes adequate provocation. Usually mere words, such as taunts, do not.

Question 6

What four states of mind qualify as malice aforethought?

Answer 6

1. Intent to kill;
2. Intent to cause serious bodily injury;
3. Reckless indifference to human life;
4. Intent to commit a felony.

Question 7

What if a defendant who is adequately provoked kills someone other than the provoker due to a reasonable mistake of fact?

Answer 7

If a defendant who has been adequately provoked accidentally kills the wrong person, the defendant will be guilty of voluntary manslaughter if that would have been the defendant’s crime had the defendant killed the provoker.

If the defendant intentionally kills an innocent bystander, then the defendant will be guilty of murder.

Question 8

What is involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 8

Unintentional homicide committed:
(i) With criminal negligence (or recklessness under the MPC); or
(ii) During an unlawful act

Question 9

What is the usual definition of first-degree murder?

Answer 9

First-degree murder is a statutory offense, and is generally defined as (i) a deliberate and premeditated murder, or (ii) felony murder.

Question 10

What is voluntary manslaughter?

Answer 10

Homicide committed with malice aforethought, but also with mitigating circumstances (e.g., “heat of passion” or imperfect defense).

Question 11

What are the five most common inherently dangerous felonies that can give rise to a felony murder charge?

Answer 11

BARRK:

1. Burglary,
2. Arson,
3. Robbery,
4. Rape and
5. Kidnapping

Question 12

Describe the independent felony requirement for felony murder.

Answer 12

To be guilty of felony murder, a felony independent of the death must have occurred. For example, a battery that causes the victim to die might be a felony, however it is not independent of the victim’s death, therefore, in a majority of states a felony murder charge would be inappropriate.

Question 13

Is the defendant liable for felony murder when a co-felon is killed during the commission of a felony?

Answer 13

No. A defendant is not guilty of felony murder when the defendant’s co-felon is justifiably killed by a victim or police officer.

Question 14

In what two circumstances can a killing give rise to a charge of involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 14

(i) A killing committed in the commission of a malum in se (wrong in itself) misdemeanor; or
(ii) A killing committed in the commission of a felony that is not statutorily treated as first-degree felony murder or second-degree murder.

Question 15

When can an initial aggressor able to use self-defense?

Answer 15

An initial aggressor may gain the right to act in self-defense in two circumstances:

1. When the initial aggressor’s use of nondeadly force is met with deadly force;
2. When the initial aggressor, in good faith, completely withdraws from the altercation and communicates that fact to the victim

Question 16

What does “depraved heart” murder require?

Answer 16

An unintentional killing that results from reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life is a depraved-heart murder.

Note: Although there is a split among jurisdictions as to whether the requisite depravity exists when a defendant is actually unaware of the risk involved in the conduct, and although the majority of states and the MPC impose liability only when the defendant actually realizes the danger, even states following the majority rule allow a conviction if the reason the defendant failed to appreciate the risk was due to voluntary intoxication.