Homicide is the unjustified killing of a human being by another human being. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the death, a homicide may be classified as one of the following types: (1) Murder; (2) Manslaughter (involuntary or involuntary); or (3) Negligent Homicide.Murder is the killing of any person with express or implied malice aforethought. However, murder can be broken up into two distinctions: first degree murder and second degree murder. Second degree murder comprises 90% of all murders and first degree incorporates the final 10%. If an individual is charged with second degree murder, they will be found guilty if the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the accused had an intent to kill; (2) intended to inflict great bodily harm; and (3) there was implied malice or gross recklessness. If an individual is charged with first degree murder, they will be found guilty if the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused premeditated the killing in addition to the three aforementioned elements. Some examples of first degree murder are torture, starving, and lying in wait.
To prove the intent elements of murder, the prosecution is likely to rely upon evidence of subsequent behavior and the act that caused the fatality. For the element of implied malice to be satisfied, the individual must be shown to have conducted actions which show a reckless disregard of risk/probability of serious injury/death.
One form of second degree murder is felony murder, which is the killing of a human being that occurs during a violent felony. The inherent difficulty in this definition is what constitutes a violent crime. Jurisdiction are equally split on this issue, with half obeying the California Rule and the other half obeying the Maryland Rule. The California Rules is an abstract test which considers the words of the statute and looks at the elements of the crime. The Maryland Rule looks at how the crime occurred and the facts of the case. In addition to these rules some jurisdiction have taken the route of explicitly naming the violent felonies.
Manslaughter is the unlawful voluntary or involuntary killing of another human being without malice. If an individual is charged with voluntary manslaughter they will be found guilty if the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the killing was intentional; (2) it was conducted in the heat of passion; (3) it was sudden; and finally (4) there was legally adequate provocation.
When trying to prove that there was legally adequate provocation, it should be mentioned that words alone are not adequate provocation. In addition, when trying to prove heat of passion, the emotion of anger alone is insufficient without an element of sudden provocation.
