Homicide

Question 1

Common Law Murder

Answer 1

• unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought
• note that intentional use of deadly weapon authorized permissive inference of intent to kill

Question 2

Malice Aforethought

Answer 2

• common law concept

Exists if there are no facts reducing the killing to voluntary manslaughter or excusing it (i.e. giving rise to a defense), + committed w/ one of the following states of mind:
- intent to kill
- intent t inflict great bodily injury
- reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (“abandoned and malignant heart” or “depraved heart”)
- intent to commit a felony (felony murder)

Question 3

Statutory Modification of Common Law Classifications

Answer 3

• some jurisdictions divide murder into degrees (first + second) by statute

Question 4

First Degree Murder

Answer 4

A murder = second degree murder UNLESS:
- deliberate + premeditated
- first degree felony murder
- certain statutorily specified circumstances are present (ex: some states make killing of a police officer automatically first degree murder)

Question 5

Deliberate and Premeditated First Degree Murder

Answer 5

• if def made decision to kill in a cool + dispassionate manner + actually reflected on the idea of killing, even if only for a very brief period, it’s first degree murder
• def must’ve acted w/ intent or knowledge that their conduct would cause death
• may be negated by voluntary intoxication (since premeditation requires specific intent) -> means if def so intoxicated that couldn’t premeditate, highest degree of murder they can be convicted for = second or voluntary manslaughter

Question 6

First Degree Felony Murder

Answer 6

• killing committed during the commission of a felony
• many states make it 1st degree only if the felony is one of certain enumerated ones (ex: burglary, arson, rape, robbery + kidnapping), but some don’t enumerate
• those that don’t enumerate sometimes just require that the felony be inherently dangerous to human life or dangerous to human life as committed
• note that this is the modern framework, but in general, any death, even accidental, caused in the commission of or in an attempt to commit a felony is murder (malice implied from intent to commit the felony)

Question 7

Second Degree Murder

Answer 7

• usually “depraved heart killing”: killing done w/ reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life
• OR just any murder that isn’t 1st degree

Question 8

Limitations on Felony Murder Liability

Answer 8

• def must’ve committed or attempted to commit the underlying felony -> any defense that negates underlying offense will also be a defense for felony murder
• felony must be distinct from the killing itself (ex: aggravated battery that causes victim’s death can’t be source of killing for felony murder)
• death must’ve been foreseeable result of the felony
• death must’ve been cause before the defendant’s “immediate flight” from the felony ended (once def has reached “temporary safety”, subsequent deaths not felony murder)
• in most jurisdictions, def is NOT liable for felony murder when co-felon is killed as a result of resistance from felony victim or police

Question 9

Felony Murder - Theories of Liability

Answer 9

• proximate cause theory says you’re liable for deaths of innocent victims even if they’re caused by someone other than a co-felon
• vs. agency theory says killing must be committed by felon or accomplice

Question 10

Voluntary Manslaughter

Answer 10

• killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation

Question 11

Voluntary Manslaughter - Provocation

Answer 11

Adequate only if:
- it was a provocation that would arouse sudden + intense passion in the mind of an ordinary person, causing them to lose self-control
- def was in fact provoked
- there not sufficient time between the provocation + the killing for passions of a reasonable person to cool; AND
- def in fact did not cool off between provocation + killing

• book notes make sure to evaluate all four

Question 12

Murder vs. Voluntary Manslaughter

Answer 12

• “heat of passion” is NOT a DEFENSE to murder -> it just lowers the seriousness of the offense from murder to manslaughter
• SO if a q offers “not guilty because defendant acted in heat of passion” as an answer choice, it’s automatically wrong (heat of passion CANNOT negate guilt)

Question 13

Imperfect Self-Defense

Answer 13

• recognized in some states

Allows murder to be reduced to manslaughter even though:
1) def was at fault in starting the altercation, OR
2) def unreasonably but honestly believed in necessity of responding w/ deadly force

Question 14

Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 14

• any killing committed w/ criminal negligence (or “recklessness” under MPC)
• OR in some states, during commission of unlawful act not included under felony murder (ex: misdemeanor or a lesser felony)

Question 15

Involuntary Manslaughter vs. Abandoned and Malignant Heart Murder

Answer 15

• abandoned + maligant heart murder at common law involves HIGH risk of death, vs. involuntary manslaughter based on recklessness only requires SUBSTANTIAL risk

Question 16

Causation

Answer 16

Def’s conduct must be both:
- cause-in-fact of victim’s death (“but for” cause)
- proximate cause of victim’s death (death = natural + probable consequence)
-> superseding factors often break chain of proximate causation

Question 17

Rules of Causation

Answer 17

• 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
• victim’s preexisting weakness or fragility, even if unforeseeable, doesn’t break chain of causation

Question 18

Causation - Limitations

Answer 18

• year and a day rule
• intervening acts

Question 19

Causation - Year and a Day Rule

Answer 19

• traditionally, for def to be liable for homicide, the death of the victim must occur w/in one year + one day from infliction of the injury or the wound
• BUT most states that have reviewed this rule have abolished it

Question 20

Causation - Intervening Acts

Answer 20

• generally, an intervening act shields def from liability if the act is a coincidence or is outside the foreseeable sphere of risk created by def
• BUT third party’s negligent medical care + victim’s refusal of medical treatment for religious reasons both count as foreseeable risks -> def would still be liable