Criminal Law - Ch. 10 - Homicide

Adequate Provocation

conduct that is sufficient to excite a passion that causes a reasonable person to lose control and kill; that actually provokes the individual to kill

Agency Theory of Felony Murder

a felon is liable for a murder committed by a co-felon

Aggravated Murder

punishable by death or life imprisonment

Aggravating Factors

factors that allow enhancement of an offender’s punishment (ex: offender’s prior record, nature of the crime, and victim’s identity)

Benefit of Clergy

first-time offenders could receive a lenient sentence for specific crimes

Brain Death Test

the irreversible function of all brain functions is the point at which an individual is legally dead

Capital Muder

punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment (a.k.a. aggravated murder)

Cooling of Blood

the point at which an individual who has been provoked no longer is acting in response to an act of provocation

Corporate Murder

a killing for which a business is held criminally liable

Criminal Homicide

all homicides that are neither justified nor excused

Depraved Heart Murder

killing as a result of extreme recklessness, wanton unconcern, and indifference to human life with malice aforethought

Excusable Homicide

individuals are relieved of criminal liability based on the lack of criminal intent - this includes insanity, infancy, and intoxication

Express Malice

a killing committed with the intent to cause death or severe bodily harm

Extreme Emotional Disturbance (EED)

an approach to voluntary manslaughter that asks whether an ordinary person would be provoked “in the actor’s situation”

Felony Murder

a killing committed during the commission of a felony

First-Degree Murder

intentional and premeditated murder with malice aforethought (most severe category of homicide)

Grading

the categorization of homicide in accordance with the “moral blameworthiness” of the perpetrator

Heat of Passion

acting in response to adequate provocation

Implied Malice

a homicide willfully committed with a conscious disregard for human life

in utero

within the uterus or womb

Involuntary Manslaughter

killing as a result of gross negligence or recklessness, or during the commission of an unlawful act

Justifiable Homicide

killing is justified under the circumstances (self-defense, policy use of deadly force, the death penalty)

Malice Aforethought

an intent to kill with ill will and hatred

Manslaughter

killing of another without malice aforethought and without excuse or justification

Mitigating Circumstances

factors that may reduce or moderate the sentence of a defendant convicted at trial

Murder

killing of another with malice aforethought and without excuse or justification

Negligent Manslaughter

arises when an individual commits an act that they’re unaware creates a risk of severe injury or death under circumstances in which a reasonable person would have been aware of the threat

nolo contendere

a plea that has the legal effect of a plea of guilty, but does not constitute an admission of guilt in proceedings outside of the immediate trial

Standard of First-Degree Murder

premeditation and deliberation

Proximate Cause Theory of Felony Murder

a felon is liable for all foreseeable results of the felony

Reasonable Person

the ideal type of the balance and fair individual

Misdemeanor Manslaughter

the unintentional killing of another during the commission of a criminal act that does not amount to a felony

Recklessness

individual personally aware that their conduct creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily harm

Second-Degree Murder

intentional killing of another with malice aforethought

Vehicular Manslaughter

killing resulting from the grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle or from driving while intoxicated (a.k.a. vehicular homicide or homicide by vehicle)

Voluntary Manslaughter

instant killing of another in the heat of passion to adequate provocation without a “cooling of blood”