Homicide Offenses - Business Law

Elements: the prosecution must show (1) Actus reus - affirmative act or omission, (2) Corpus delicti - body or evidence that a death has occurred, (3) Mens rea - [coming up], and (4) Proximate causation

DEGREES OF MURDER the mens rea requirement

1st DEGREE the premeditated taking of a human life

2nd DEGREE taking a human life with "malice aforethought," consists of one of the following

2nd DEGREE (cont’d.) (1) intent to kill (a) desire to kill or (b) knowledge that death is substantially certain to occur

2nd DEGREE (cont’d.) (2) intent to do serious bodily injury (3) reckless indifference to the value of human life also known as a "depraved heart"

2nd DEGREE (cont’d.) (4) during the commission of another felony - "felony murder rule" (a) felonies at common law, or (b) malum in se rather than malum prohibitum felonies

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER a defendant is entitled to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter if (1) he acts in response to a provocation that would be sufficient to cause a reasonable man to lose his self-control; and (2) he acts in a "heat of passion"; and

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER (cont’d.) (3) a reasonable man would not have had time to "cool off" between the provocation and the act; and (4) he had not "cooled off" before he committed the act.

INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER a person is guilty of involuntary manslaughter if his GROSSLY NEGLIGENT conduct results in the death of another person.

MISDEMEANOR MANSLAUGHTER a death occurs accidentally during the commission of a misdemeanor offense, such as the violation of a traffic law.

The End