CL murder
unlawful killing with malice aforethought (aka thought of before)
IT’S AFORETHOUGHT NOT afterthought
list (4)
How is malice aforethought established
(which remember, is needed for CL murder)
- intent to kill
- intent to inflict great bodily injury
- reckless indifference to human life (abandon and malignant heart, depraved heart) -AND-
- felony murder - killing during commission of an inherently dangerous felony (i.e. BARRK crimes)
list (3)
elements for first degree murder
(aka premeditated murder)
- D acted in a cool, dispassionate manner
- had time to reflect on the idea of killing…even if a brief period of time
- D acted with intent or knowledge that their conduct would cause death
fist degree felony murder elements
killing committed during a felony (BARRK or other felonies dangerous to human life)
what type of killing is homocide of a PO
1st degree murder if D knows that V is a PO and PO is killed during line of duty (even if off duty…ie officer tries to thwart a bank robbery)
elements for 2nd degree murder
murder with malicious intent but lacks premeditation
intent:
- intent to kill,
- intent to inflict serious bodily harm,
- or act with an abandoned heart
Felony murder elements
any death, even accidental, that occurred during commission or attempt to commit a felony
what felonies
BARRK + other felonies dangerous to human life→ gets us to 1st degree FM
other felonies → FM
list (5)
limitations to FM
- D must have committed or attempted to commit the underlying felony
- defenses that negate felony, negate FM
- Felony must be distinct from killing itself
- Death must have been foreseeable
- Death must have been caused BEFORE the D’s “immediate flight”
- because when D reaches a place of “temporary safety” any murders committed thereafter are not FM
- D NOT liable for FM when co-felon killed
Liability of FM under proximate cause theory
Felon liable for deaths of innocent victims caused by someone other** **than a co-felon
Liability of FM under agency theory
only liable if the killing is committed by a felon or their agent
EXCEPTION: liable for FM under agency theory is victim was used as a shield or forced by felon to occupy a dangerous place
Voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is a killing that would otherwise be murder but is distinguishable from murder because in MS there is the existence of adequate provocation
list (4)
Provocation in VM is adequate only if:
- provocation would arouse sudden and intense passion in the mind of an ordinary person
- D was in fact provoked
- No suff time/no cooling period btwn provocation and killing
- D in fact did NOT cool off
Involuntary manslaughter (IVM)
Involuntary manslaughter requires a death caused by criminal negligence or by an unlawful act.
- Killing committed with criminal or reckless negligence -OR-
- in some states, killing committed during commission of an unlawful act
- foreseeability of death may also be a requirement
Abandoned and malignant heart murder vs.
Involuntary manslaughter
AMH at CL - requires HIGH risk of death
IVM based on recklessness - requires substantial risk of death
To be guilty of murder or manslaugther, the defendant’s action must
be both the cause in fact and the proximate cause of the victim’s death.
What causation for D’s conduct
- cause in fact
- proximate causation
what is cause in fact
result would not have occured but for D’s conduct
what is proximate causation (PC)
D’s conduct is proximate cause of result if the result is a natural and probable consequence of the conduct even if D did not anticipate
superseeding factors break chain of PC
Voluntary manslaughter is a killing that would otherwise be murder but is distinguishable from murder by the existence of adequate provocation.
So, to find for VM there has to be actual basis to support a conviction for murder, but the difference is the existence of provocation which lowers it to manslaughter instead of keeping it at murder which requires forethought/planning
Attempted murder
- specific intent to kill
- commit act in furtherance of killing BUT
- did not complete killing
misdemeanor manslaughter
manslaughter committed under a misdemeanor
