1. Criminal Law for the Criminal Justice Professional
Norman M. Garland
Fourth Edition
Chapter 8
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2. Chapter 8 Criminal Homicide
8.1 Homicide 8.2 Elements of criminal homicide 8.3 Types and degrees of criminal homicide 8.4 Murder 8.5 Manslaughter
Chapter 8
Criminal Homicide

3. Chapter Objectives
Distinguish between homicide and criminal homicide List the rules defining when life begins and ends for criminal homicide List the essential elements of murder Explain the felony murder rule

4. Chapter Objectives (continued)
Distinguish between first-degree and second-degree murder Describe the Model Penal Code’s definition of murder Explain the difference between justification and excuse defenses Describe the differences in voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and murder

5. 8.1 Homicide Homicide Criminal homicide Malice aforethought
The killing of one human being by another
Any act that causes the death of another person with criminal intent and without lawful justification or excuse
Malice aforethought
Under modern law, any one of four mental states that reveal the intent to (1) kill, (2) inflict grievous bodily injury, (3) show extreme reckless disregard for human life, or (4) commit a felony that results in another’s death

6. Feticide and Criminal Abortions
Definition of a human being is not always limited to a child born alive
Born-alive rule
The common law rule defining the beginning of life, for purposes of criminal homicide, as the birth of a live child

7. Feticide and Criminal Abortions (continued)
Four types of fetal homicide
Viability, when fetus is developed enough to survive outside the womb
Quickening, or first movement, of the fetus
When an embryo becomes a fetus
Conception
Feticide
The unlawful killing of a fetus

8. Infanticide
In cases involving the death of newborns, particularly in settings other than hospitals, officials always question to determine if:
Child was born alive and physically separated from the mother’s womb
Child showed independent respiration and heartbeat at the time of death
All states consider killing a newborn child, known as an infanticide, a homicide

9. The End of Life
To consider an act a homicide, defendant’s conduct must have caused the death of somebody who was alive at the time of the act
32 states have adopted Uniform Determination of Death Act
Irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions
Irreversible cessation of all functions of the brain, including the brain stem

10. The Right to Die
As individual rights to privacy and autonomy expand, and the question arises whether individuals have the right to end their lives
Assisted suicide - Act of aiding or abetting another to commit suicide
Criminal by statute in 39 states
Euthanasia differs from physician-assisted suicide
People v. Cleaves

11. Application Case
8.1 Keeler v. Superior Court

12. Figure 8.1 - Definition of Person for Purposes of Homicide, by State

13. 8.2 Elements of Criminal Homicide
An act or omission That causes the death Of another human being With criminally culpable mens rea Without lawful justification or excuse
Premeditation and deliberation
The mental state that raises second-degree murder to first-degree murder in jurisdictions that classify murder into two or more levels. It implies a cold-blooded killing

14. Corpus Delicti Requirement
Prosecution cannot use defendant’s statements or confession alone to prove that a crime has been committed There must be proof that the victim died as a result of the accused person’s criminal act
Corpus delicti
The required proof that a crime has been committed. In homicide cases, this usually means the corpse of the victim

15. Actus Reus Act that produces death must be voluntary
Examples of involuntary condition
Knowingly driving while sleepy
Knowingly drinking to the point of passing out
Disregarding advice from doctors by driving or operating dangerous equipment knowing that one is subject to heart failure or epilepsy
Driving or operating dangerous equipment while on a psychoactive substance
One can be criminally liable for failure to act

16. Mens Rea Distinguishes murder from lesser forms of criminal homicide
Killing is difficult to establish
Determination is made at some later point
Defendant’s state of mind can only be established by circumstantial evidence
Murder
Manslaughter
The killing of another with the mental element of malice aforethought
The killing of another without the mental element of malice aforethought

17. Model Penal Code
Mental states specified are designed to be more concise and understandable than the vague common law term “malice”
Criminal homicide - Murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide and if a person purposely caused a suicide
Aiding or soliciting suicide is punishable as an independent second-degree felony if one’s conduct causes a suicide or suicide attempt

18. Inference of Mens Rea from Circumstantial Evidence
Prosecutor must introduce evidence of circumstances surrounding the death
Act of pointing a gun and shooting someone dead is evidence of an intent to kill
Identifying a reason why a particular defendant killed a particular victim is useful to prosecution

19. Causation
For a defendant to be held criminally responsible for causing the death of another human being, the victim must be alive at time of the defendant’s actions Year-and-a-day rule
Year-and-a-day rule
The causation rule that requires that, in order to classify a killing as a homicide, the victim must die within a year and a day after the act causing death occurred

20. The “But-For” Test and Multiple Causes
Victim would not be dead “but-for” the actions of the defendant
Intervening acts have raised special concerns
Courts have determined that such complications as medical malpractice and intervening criminal acts of others are foreseeable consequences
Causation may become a critical issue when the actus reus of the criminal homicide is an omission
Any individual characteristic that contributes to the victim’s death is an important factor

21. The “Substantial Factor” Test
If two or more forces sufficient to cause death occur simultaneously, “but-for” test of causation fails If medical examination establishes that each shooter’s conduct was a “substantial factor” in bringing about the victim’s death, each may be held liable for causing the victim’s death

22. Without Lawful Justification or Excuse
Justification means the actor had a right or privilege to engage in conduct that otherwise would have been criminal
Lethal force justified in defense of human life, but not for the sole purpose of protecting property
Defendant may have a legal excuse when death occurs under circumstances that the law recognizes as lacking moral culpability

23. Application Cases (continued 1)
8.2 People v. Kimes and Kimes 8.3 People v. Newton 8.4 Kibbe v. Henderson

24. Figure 8.2 - Current Status of the Year-and-a-Day Rule, by State

25. 8.3 Definition of Criminal Homicide
Unless there are circumstances that excuse the killing:
All killings with malice are murder
All killings without malice are manslaughter
Types and degrees of homicide
Murder
Voluntary manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter

26. 8.4 Murder Requires elements of criminal homicides
Actus reus
Mens rea
Causation
Death of the victim
Lack of lawful justification or excuse
Includes death due to recklessness
Mens rea for murder is present if the accused causes a death while committing a felony

27. Malice Aforethought Malice
A state of mind connoting an “abandoned and malignant heart.” It is not limited to the specific intent to kill, since even a wanton or reckless state of mind may constitute malice

28. The Felony Murder Rule Felony murder rule
The rule that when the accused kills in the course of committing a felony, the mens rea for murder is present in the intent to commit the felony, and therefore murder has been committed

29. The Felony Murder Rule (continued)
Potential victims of felony murder
Intended victim
Innocent bystanders
Law enforcement officers
Non–law enforcement persons attempting to rescue the victim
All co-felons
Inherently dangerous felonies
Felonies involving conduct that is inherently dangerous to human life, such as rape, arson, and armed robbery

30. Reckless Disregard for the Value of Human Life
In the absence of felony murder liability, prosecution for murder can still be pursued on the theory of reckless indifference to the value of human life
Includes drag racing on public streets and games of Russian roulette

31. The Division of Murder into Degrees
First degree murder in Pennsylvania
Willful, deliberate, and premeditated killings
Killings perpetrated in one of a number of specific ways
Killings that occur during perpetration or attempt of an enumerated felony
Capital murder
A charge of murder with the maximum punishment of death, often called murder in the first degree

32. The Division of Murder into Degrees (continued 1)
First degree murder in California
Planning activity prior to the killing
Evidence of a motive
Manner of killing “so particular and exacting that defendant must have intentionally killed according to a ‘preconceived design’”

33. The Division of Murder into Degrees (continued 2)
Elevation to first-degree murder
Second-degree murder can be elevated to first- degree murder by premeditation and deliberation
Jurors evaluate prior calculation and design

34. Degrees of Murder under MPC
Notes that “murder is a felony of the first degree"
Specifies the circumstances under which a person convicted of murder may be sentenced to death

35. Defenses to Murder
Standard of proof is usually a preponderance of evidence, which is considerably lower than beyond a reasonable doubt

36. Application Cases (continued 2)
8.5 People v. Stamp
8.6 Taylor v. Superior Court
8.7 People v. Anderson
8.8 State v. Gounagias
People v. Berry
8.9 Law v. State

37. Figure 8.3: The Five Possible Mental States That Comprise Malice Aforethought

38. 8.5 Manslaughter
A person is guilty of voluntary manslaughter if the accused had an intent to kill or to cause great bodily harm, under provocation, mistaken justification, and/or diminished mental capacity
Voluntary manslaughter
An intentional, unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought

39. Voluntary Manslaughter
Provocation
Mitigation
The reduction, or lessening, of a penalty or punishment imposed by law
Adequate provocation
When the acts or conduct of the person killed would be sufficient to cause a person of reasonable, ordinary temperament to lose self-control

40. Voluntary Manslaughter (continued)
Mistaken justification (imperfect self-defense) Diminished mental capacity
Imperfect self-defense
A partial defense that reduces a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, where the claim of self-defense fails because it is not objectively reasonable but is honestly believed by the accused

41. Involuntary Manslaughter
A criminal homicide that encompasses a killing done without intent to kill, and without such indifference to human life as to constitute implied malice, as a result of criminally negligent conduct on the part of the defendant
Commonwealth v. Welansky Commonwealth v. Malone

42. Involuntary Manslaughter (continued)
Negligent homicide
A criminal homicide committed by a person who has neglected to exercise the degree of care that an ordinary person would have exercised under the same circumstances
Vehicular manslaughter
A criminal homicide in which the perpetrator caused a death while operating a motor vehicle, either by gross negligence or while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs

43. Application Case (continued 3)
8.10 Montana v. Egelhoff