Different types of killings
killing a person with “malice aforethought”
What is Murder
killing in self-defense
what is justifiable homicide
helping another person to die
What is euthanasia
all homicides that are neither justified nor excused
What is criminal homicide
death penalty cases in death penalty states and “mandatory life sentence without parole” cases in non–death penalty states
what is capital cases
killing a person without malice aforethought
What is Manslaughter
one who intentionally uses a deadly weapon on another human being and thereby kills him is presumed to have formed the intent to kill
what is the deadly weapon doctrine
death has to be a foreseeable consequence of the unlawful act; the act is unlawful only because it’s prohibited by a specific statute or ordinance
what is malum prohibitum crimes
killings done by someone “not of sound memory and discretion”
what is excusable homicide
a finding that “the defendant’s emotional outrage or passion was reasonable
What is emotional reasonableness
the crime of killing a fetus
What is Feticide
a smoldering resentment or pent-up rage resulting from earlier insults or humiliating events, culminating in a triggering event that, by itself, might be insufficient to provoke the deadly act
what is the last-straw rule
death caused by a person who is aware that her acts create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death or serious bodily injury, but acts anyway
what is unlawful act or misdemeanor manslaughter
an unintentional killing (mens rea) by a voluntary act or omission (actus reus)
what is involuntary manslaughter
the common law rule that a husband who caught his wife in the act of adultery had adequate provocation to kill; today, it applies to both parties of a marriage
What is the paramour rule
extremely reckless killings
what is depraved heart murder
homicide law once said that to be a person, and therefore a homicide victim, a baby had to be “born alive” and capable of breathing and maintaining a heartbeat on its own
What is the Born Alive Rule
a homicide committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse. The reasonableness of such explanation or excuse shall be determined from the viewpoint of the person in the actor’s situation under the circumstances as he believes them to be
What is extreme mental or emotional disturbance manslaughter
the act of killing by poisoning, striking, starving, drowning, and a thousand other forms by which human nature can be overcome
what is murder actus reus
separating the emotions that led to a killing from the question of whether the killing itself was reasonable
What is emotion-act distinction
the only crime today in which the death penalty can be imposed, consisting of (1) premeditated, deliberate intent to kill murders and (2) felony murders
what is first-degree murder
separate statutes that define attempts in terms of specific crimes in the criminal code, such as attempted murder, attempted robbery, and attempted rape—crimes that involved a specific intent
What is the specific attempt statutes
adequate provocation based on “the theory that a person with latent homosexual tendencies will have an extreme and uncontrollably violent reaction when confronted with a homosexual proposition
what is gay panic
murders that aren’t first-degree murders, including intentional murders that weren’t premeditated or deliberate, felony murders, intent to inflict serious bodily injury murders, and depraved heart murders
what is second-degree murder
a mandate that the death penalty decision be made in two phases: a trial to determine guilt and a second separate proceeding, after a finding of guilt, to consider the aggravating factors for, and mitigating factors against, capital punishment
What is bifurcation procedure