Module 6 and 7 - Common Law (Organized)

Homicide Definition

One human being killing another. Not always a crime (e.g., self-defense).

What is a Human Being?

Must be born alive (not a fetus).

What is Death?

Irreversible stop of breathing/heartbeat or cessation of brain-based criteria.

What is required for a murder charge?

Voluntary act

Year and a Day Rule

If the victim dies more than a year and a day after the defendant's act, it cannot be murder.

1. First-Degree Murder: Rule

Unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought that meets all three elements: (WDP)

• Willful: Specific intent to kill (wanted the victim dead).

• Deliberate: Weighed and evaluated the choice.

• Premeditated: Planned in advance (thought about beforehand, even briefly).

What is malice aforethought?

Intend to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to another.

First-Degree Murder: Felony Murder Rule

An unintended killing during the commission or attempted commission of a felony.

Despite being unintentional, committing the felony upgrades the offense to first-degree murder if committed during ARRB: arson, rape, robbery, or burglary.

Note: FM rule serves as a substitute for intent. Prosecution no longer has to prove intent.

Second-Degree Murder: Felony Murder Rule

Killing occurs during a non-enumerated felony. D gets upgraded to 2nd degree murder.

Courts decide which felonies are dangerous enough to qualify.

Maryland: The felony qualifies if it D carried it out in a way inherently and extremely dangerous to human life.

California: Every murder involves assault—we can’t let the FM rule serve as a bypass of proving intent to get to murder charges. We can only use the FM rule if you committed a felony to produce a completely different result, such as stealing money. (this is to avoid merging all assaults with murder).

Note: FM rule serves as a substitute for intent. Prosecution no longer has to prove intent.

What is the Agency Approach (Majority) rule for the Felony Murder rule?

D cannot be convicted under the felony murder rule if the death was caused by a non-felon acting independently (e.g. police acting lawfully).

What is the Proximate Causation Approach (Minority) rule for the Felony Murder rule?

Felons can be held responsible if their felony set in motion the acts resulting in death.

Factors: Time, distance, and causal analysis (proximate cause, avoiding superseding or intervening causes).

2. Second-Degree Murder: Activators

DIG

1. Depraved Heart (Recklessness+): Unintentional killing. Defendant is consciously disregarded an unreasonable risk to human life so extreme it shows an "abandoned and malignant heart" (wanton, willful recklessness). A reckless/conscious indifference to the value of human life. Defendant is subjectively aware of the risk. (e.g. driving 150mph in a 25mph school zone)

2. Intentional but Unplanned - No Premeditation: Intent to kill WITHOUT premeditation (decided on the spot). (e.g. bar fight suddenly escalates to intentional brutal beating to produce death, and death results)

3. Grievous Bodily Harm: Defendant meant to seriously injure, not kill, but the victim dies. (D punches victim in the face with a beer bottle, resulting in death despite D not wanting to produce such result)

3. Voluntary Manslaughter (Heat of Passion): Rule (PROF SAID COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY)

1) Intentional killing,

2) without malice aforethought,

3) committed in a sudden heat of passion,

4) resulting from adequate provocation—an objective standard,

5) with a causal link between the two.

3. Voluntary Manslaughter (Provocation): Rule

1. Passion, not reason: Must inflame a reasonable person to act from passion rather than reason.

2. Frailties: Defendant's psychological frailties do not count.

3. Words alone: Words alone are never enough unless accompanied by conduct showing intent/ability to harm.

3. Heat of Passion, a type of Voluntary Manslaughter: What mental state does Defendant have to be in (Rule)?

Defendant's State (Subjective): Defendant must actually be in the grip of rage/fear/jealousy.

3. Voluntary Manslaughter (Cool-Off Period): Rule

Killing must occur before a reasonable person would have calmed down. If there is time to cool off, it escalates back to murder.

4. Involuntary Manslaughter: Activators

CUM

1. Criminal Negligence: Committing a lawful act in a highly dangerous and objectively unreasonable manner.
   Failure to exercise the ordinary caution that a reasonable person under the circumstances would exhibit, regardless of D’s own ignorance.
   Extreme, inexcusable carelessness while performing a perfectly legal act (e.g., hunter shoots at a moving bush without verifying the target).

2. Unduly Dangerous Act: Doing something inherently risky to human life (e.g., throwing a heavy object out a window onto a sidewalk) but Defendant FAILED to understand the risk. This is what differentiates it from Depraved Heart Murder.

3. Misdemeanor-Manslaughter: Committing an unlawful act (a misdemeanor or a non-inherently dangerous felony) that accidentally results in death. The death is viewed as a highly tragic, unforeseeable accident resulting from a low-level crime. The unlawful act replaces the need to prove a negligent mental state. (e.g., D punches Victim in the face that results in Victim’s death). The conduct is less severe than Depraved Heart Murder.