Preview

Capital Murder: Consequences Of Murder And Manslaughter

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
462 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Capital Murder: Consequences Of Murder And Manslaughter
Capital Murder Many states have very different views on what they consider murder and also the consequences for it. Someone who is convicted by law of murder has three different punishments or degrees. The three different degrees are 1st degree, 2nd degree or third degree. Then there is capital murder, which is the worst of the convictions and can be put on death row.
Capital murder is any murder that makes the perpetrator eligible for the death penalty. The difference in capital murder and manslaughter is that capital murder is the intent to kill a person, while manslaughter is unlawful killing that doesn’t intend to seriously harm or kill. When convicted of capital murder, the punishment is legally authorized death penalty or life in prison without parole. In Mississippi, someone convicted of capital murder can be sentenced to death but if the U.S. Supreme Court, or circuit court, says it is unconstitutional than those sentenced shall be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
In most states, first degree murder is defined as an unlawful killing that is willful and premeditated, meaning that is was committed after planning or prepared to kill the victim. First degree murder is committed if any death (even accidental) results from the
…show more content…
Second degree murder does not include the intent to kill. It is a non-premeditated killing resulting from an assault in which death of the victim was a distinct possibility. It is viewed as the middle ground between first degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, which is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during “the heat of passion”, under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. The punishment for second degree murder is not typically the death penalty but subjects can be looking at a long term sentence or even life in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In accordance to the Penal Law, Murder in the first degree is defined “With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person… the victim was killed while the defendant was in the course of committing / attempting to commit in furtherance of robbery [or other such felonies.]{§125.27(1)(a)(vii)}” This is also known as Felony Murder. Robbery is also defined as forcible stealing.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    (53a -54b (6)) is capital murder is committing murder in the commission of sexual assault in the first degree; (53a – 54b (7)) explains murdering 2 or more people in one occurrence; and (53a -54b (8)) explains murdering a minor under the age of 16 year of age. Per (53a – 54d) Arson murder is acting alone or with another person causing death by fire. Sexual assault according to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a – 70 explains a person is guilty of sexual assault in the 1st degree, when such person uses force against their victim. (CHAPTER 952* Penal Codes: Offenses, 2001)…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    163.118 Manslaughter in the first degree. (1) Criminal homicide constitutes manslaughter in the first degree when:…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First degree murder is defined by federal and state laws as a killing which is deliberate and premeditated. Many states define it as a killing committed in connection with felonies such as rape, burglary, arson or involving multiple deaths, the killing of certain types of people ( such as a child or police officer), or certain weapons particularly a gun[1]. First and second degree murder are distinguishable by the fact that second degree murder usually does not require premeditation. Under federal law each of the following elements must be met:…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    CJS 220: Legal Defense

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the readings that I have done I have found that there are three different types of legal defenses, they are: self-defense, insanity, and provocation. In a case where a person is charged with first degree premeditated murder, if they were to use one of the three defenses the punishment would not be the maximum that is normally imposed depending on the crime and type of defense that is used.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. As of 2010, methods permitted for use include beheading, electric chair, gas chamber, hanging, lethal injection, and shooting.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johnny Cade Murder Essay

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Furthermore, the definition of first degree murder involves premeditation, deliberate planning, and malice. However, there is no evidence supporting that Johnny Cade made use of any of the previously mentioned elements of murder before killing Bob Sheldon. Johnny acted strictly…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First-degree premeditated murder. Four shots to the head, three behind the victims ear and one above her eyebrow, two more pierced through her chest and several scattered across her body. Yet, he still claims, “it was unintentional”. The Defendant claimed that he missed the first two shots of firing at her. She reacted by jumping on the bed and shoving him, resulting in him shoving her onto the floor and shooting her in the head and all over her body as she lay on the floor.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Federal Law on Homicide

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages

    First on our list is the harshest of the three murder categories, first degree murder is unlawful killing of a human being by a human being involving malice aforethought (i.e., intent to kill) and premeditation (Ousey, 2008). For example say John Smith thinks his neighbor Bill Jones is an alien from another planet and is going to take John as a prisoner, so John devises a plan to kill Bill. He has watched Bill very close to get idea of his day to day activity to figure out the best time to strike. John stalks Bill like a lioness on the hunt and when he sees an opening he shoots Bill in the back and puts him in a pre-dug and unmarked grave. John is arrested and charged with first degree murder since he planned the murder showing premeditation with malice or hatred intent. The state of mind or mens rea shows that John had the intent of killing Bill when he shot Bill in the back and then tried to cover up the crime. Possible defense of insanity, defense could argue that John thought Bill was an alien and was planning to abduct him and in his mind was using self defense. John has a history of mental illness and has been of his meds.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Manslaughter is considered a second-degree felony in the state of Texas. If convicted of this offense, people may be sentenced to imprisonment in the institutional division for between two and 20 years. They may also be fined no more than $10,000.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different legal categories of homicide. Two of these categories are; first degree murder and second degree murder. If the person acted with ‘malice aforethought’ or, planned to kill another individual and proceeded to carry out the act, then it is considered first degree murder. Shooting or stabbing someone in the heart, would be considered first degree murder, as the offender deliberately acted with malice aforethought, and therefore intended to kill the victim. Second degree murder is a homicide in which, the person did not intend to kill the victim, but still wanted to hurt…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One can also be charged with first degree murder when he has murdered more than one person at a given time or used poison. First degree murder is a capitol offense. Also felony murder and second degree murder are included. Felony murder is murder that occurred during a forcible felony. An example would be robbing someone at gunpoint and killing them. The second offense is aggravated criminal sexual assault. Aggravated criminal sexual assault does not include just rape. Violent rapes, statutory rapes, ,improper touch and torture are examples of aggravated criminal sexual assault. The third offense is aggravated battery with a firearm. Battery is when one person injures or makes contact with someone is a way that it could cause injury. Take the example of the robbery mentioned before. If the person had just hit the person with the gun or shot them in the leg, then instead of murder the charge would have been aggravated battery with a firearm. The next offense is armed robbery committed with a firearm. Now if the offender who had been robbing people with his gun just taken their money and left without injuring anyone or…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The foremost important reason for the application of capital punishment is justice. In Canadian law, a first degree murder conviction will result in a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. First degree murder is charged for premeditated murder, the murder of a law enforcement officer in their line of duty, or the murder of someone in a course of a sexual assault, kidnapping or forced confinement. This means 25 years after committing an atrocious offence, a murderer could potentially be put back on the streets. This is by no means an adequate punishment for a first degree murder. The death penalty serves better than any other form of punishment, as it ultimately ensures that a criminal can never harm another person again. Execution is the only true form of justice that shows murder is intolerable and will be punished accordingly.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Staying true to the eight amendment right the punishment must suit the crime. In the United States each state issues the death penalty for different reasons, for example in the state of Arizona a crime where there was first-degree murder, including pre-meditated murder and felony murder, accompanied by at least 1 of 14 aggravating factors would get the death penalty. Georgia, a crime where there was murder with aggravating circumstances; kidnapping with bodily injury or ransom when the victim dies; aircraft hijacking; treason. In the state of New Hampshire, a murder committed in the course of rape, kidnapping, drug crimes, or burglary; killing of a police officer, judge or prosecutor; murder for hire; murder by an inmate while serving a sentence of life without parole would get the death penalty.…

    • 900 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Life Without Parole

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Capital punishment is murder. It really doesn 't matter how you look at it. The end result is still the same. "What is the difference between the state killing and an individual killing" (Moral Arguments 1). It adds up to be the same end result. It is "one more dead body, one more set of grieving parents, and one more cemetery slot. When we execute someone, we are sending a profound message of cynicism" about the value of human life (Moral Arguments 2). "Every time we execute someone," we are sinking to the same level as the killer (Moral…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays