Homicide Flashcards
When does a homicide occur?
When there is a killing of a human being caused by another human being
What is common law murder?
The unlawful killing of a human being with mailice
What is the one year and one day rule for common law murder?
If victim dies more than one year and one day after ∆’s act, ∆’s act was not the proximate cause of the killing
What is the mens rea for common law murder?
Malice
Express Malice
∆’s engaged in conduct he expected would cause death
Implied Malice
∆ engaged in conduct he did not expect to cause death, but causes death as the result of extreme risk creation.
What are the 4 types of mens rea for common law murder?
- Intent to Kill – specific intent
- Intent to Cause Serious Bodily Harm
- Depraved Heart
- Felony Murder (B.A.R.R.K.)
Intent to Kill
Conduct where ∆ consciously desires to kill another person
or
makes the resulting death inevitable (absent justification, excuse, or mitigation to voluntary manslaughter)
What is the Deadly Weapons Doctrine?
Intent to kill is normally inferred from ∆’s use of:
- an instrument designed to kill OR
- Used in manner likely to kill, or inflict grievious bodily harm
4 circumstances where ∆ who does not personally kill victim may still be legally responsible:
- Accomplice
- Conspiracy
- Substantial Factor
- Co-Felon Liability
Accomplice
∆ who is an accomplice to the actual killer may be held liable for the homicide even though it was Killer’s act who cause the death
Conspiracy
Where the reasonably foreseeable result of a conspiracy is homicide,
and it was committed in furtherance of the conspiracy,
all member of the conspiracy can be held liable for the homicide
Substantial Factor
Where both ∆ and 3rd party caused victim’s death,
both will be considered actual causes of the death or substantial factors.
Co-Felon Liability
If the killing qualifies as felony murder, the non-killing co-felon may also be guilty of murder
Intent to Cause Serious Bodily Harm
- Express malice
- Can result from ∆’s conscious desire OR substantial certainty that ∆’s actions will result in serious bodily injury
What is “serious bodily harm?”
Significant but nonfatal injury
Depraved Heart Murder results from:
- Reckless or grossly negligent conduct
- An extreme risk to others
- That demonstrates that ∆ acted with a wanton indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury
Felony Murder is:
- An unintentional killing
- Proximately caused
- During commission or attempted commission
- Of a serious or inherently dangerous felony
When is malice established? Malice is automatically established by causing a death during the commission of the “right type” of felony
What are the right types of felonies for Felony Murder
- Burglary
- Arson
- Rape
- Robbery
- Kidnapping
*Or an inherently dangerous felony
Inherently Dangerous Felonies
The felony must be inherently dangerous
The test: the inevitable secondary effect of the felony is serious risk to human life
For felony murder, the killing must be…
independent to the felony
*the underlying felony must be independent of the homicide
When must the injuries that cause the death occur to be considered Felony Murder?
The injuries must be inflicted:
- during the commission,
- attempt, or
- immediate flight from the felony
When does the felony start?
When ∆ could be convicted of attempted the felony.
When does a felony end?
A felony is deemed terminted when the felon has reached a place of temporary safety – established by evidence that ∆ is no longer in immediate flight
Co-Felon Liability
(Modern Majority Agency Rule)
Felony-murder liability is limited to killings committed by hand of co-felon
(co-felon is acting as agent of ∆)
Co-Felon Liability
(Orignal Common Law Rule)
All felons are liable for any homicide that occurred during the perpetration of the felony
Ingredients of First Degree Murder
- Premeditation and deliberation
- Unlawful killing
- Human
- Malice
- Specific intent (mens rea)
Premeditate
∆ must think about the killing before doing
*Some amount of time is necessary between forming intent to kill and pre-meditation
Deliberate
∆ must make a choice to kill which requires rational thought
Ingredients of Second Degree Murder
- Unlawful killing
- Human
- Malice (general or intent to kill)
Types of Manslaughter
Volunatary – intentional killing
Involuntary – untentional killing
Requirements for Voluntary Manslaughter
- Adequate provocation – objective
- Mistaken justification
What is voluntary manslaughter?
An intentional killing mitigated by adequate provocation or other circumstances negating malice
AKA
“heat-of-passion killing”
What triggers a sudden heat of passion?
Adequate provocation
What is adequate provocation?
A provocation that would lead ORP to lose self-control and fly into a homicidal rage
Mere words
Mere words are not enough for adequate provocation
Causal connection between provocation and the killing
The killing must be provoked by rage of provocation
When must the killing occur for heat of passion killing?
The killing must occur while the rage is hot
Time period betrween heat-of-passion and fatal act must not be long enough that ORP would have cooled off
What are the mitigating factors that reduce murder to manslaugher?
- Diminished mental capacity short of insanity
- Imperfect self-defense (an honest, but unreasonable judgment of necessity to use homicidal self-defense will erase malice)
What is Involuntary Manslaughter?
- an unintentional killing
- resulting without malice aforethought
- caused either by recklessness, criminal negligence, or during the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act
Requirements for Involuntary Manslaughter
- Gross or criminal negligence – subjective
- Misdeamor – manslaughter
What does involuntary manslaughter require?
- ∆ was subjectively aware of the risk and ignored it = recklessness
- If ∆ was not aware of the risk, but ORP would have been aware = gross negligence
Misdemeanor-Manslaughter Rule
An unintentional killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a misdeamor which is malum in se (evil in and of itself)
OR
felony that is not one of the felony murder types
is classified as misdeamor under this rule
Exceptions to Co-Felon Liability
- Non-violent felon exceptions
- Deserving victim exception
- Redline
Non-Violent Felon Exception
- A minority of common law jurisdictions exempt from felony murder liability a non-violent co-felon
- Example: one who was not armed and did not participate in or have any knowledge of the co-felon’s intentions
Deserving Victim Exception
- A minority of common law jurisdictions also exempt from felony murder liability a killing of a co-felon
Redline Limitation
Many common law jurisdictions apply a limited form of the agency doctrine, exempting from felony murder liability killings at the hand of a non-felon when the killing is: a justifiable or excusable homicide on the theory that there is no unlawful killing to attribute to the felons (such would be the case where the police or the victim shoots one of the co-felons, but not where the killing is done by one of the felons).
