CCJS230 Study Guide Chapter 9 Crimes against Persons Homicide Death is Different Criminal Homicide is rare Homicide Issue of how much punishment should we inflict upon people who kill other people o Capital punishment o Lifetime incarceration o Fines Tremendous variances among states and federal governments concerning classifying and punishing different types of criminal homicide Criminal homicide involves killing a person requires a definition of a person o When does life begin o When does life end Common Law followed the Born Alive Rule to be a person and thus to be capable of being a homicide victim the baby had to be born alive Some states have revised existing homicide statutes to include persons and fetuses as potential homicide victims Some states have created the crime of feticide directed at the killing of fetuses Historically death occurred when the heart and breathing stopped Modern medicine makes this determination more complicated organ transplants artificial life support Accelerating a persons death is criminal homicide Brain Death Complicates the criminal homicide determination Uniform Brain Death Act individual who has suffered irreversible cessation of all brain functions including those of the brain stem is dead Murder Homicide Divided into Criminal Homicide Non criminal Homicide o Justifiable Homicide o Excusable Homicide Common Law divided criminal homicide into Murder killing a person with malice aforethought Manslaughter killing a person without malice aforethought Malice Aforethought Malice specific intent killing on purpose with ill will hate or spite Aforethought acts planned in advance Express malice aforethought early common law Implied malice aforethought as law developed o Intentional killings that weren t premeditated o Unintended killings that occurred during a felony o Extreme reckless killings depraved heart killings o Intent to create serious bodily injury murder Elements of Murder Actus Reus the act of killing Mens Rea killing with purpose knowledge or extreme recklessness Causation the act caused the death Death Attendant Circumstances First Degree Murder Felony murder Premeditated deliberate intent to kill murder Only crime for which death penalty can be imposed capital cases Death penalty issues complicate murder law Supreme Court decisions have resulted in following o Mandatory death sentences are banned o Unguided discretionary death penalty decisions are banned o Mitigating factors are required o Additional aggravating factors are allowed MPC recommendations re Death Penalty Bifurcation of the guilt determination phase and the sentencing phase Criteria for decision is limited and announced before the decision to sentence the defendant to death o Aggravating factors o Mitigating factors Mens Rea Willful deliberate and premeditated murder the grand criterion of murder Something more than the intent to kill Often disagree what deliberate and premeditated mean Willful intent to kill Premeditated sufficient time to enable the mind to frame the design to kill Deliberate conscious of purpose and design Actus Reus Voluntary act of killing Many forms of killing Many statutes require heinous atrocious or cruel acts to accomplish the actus reus of first degree murder State v Snowden Facts Snowden the defendant murdered Dean by cutting her throat with his pocket knife and was convicted of first degree premeditated murder Issue whether Snowden had sufficient time to develop a desire to take the victim s life Holding Court determined that the time needed to remove the knife and cut the victim s throat was sufficient time to show premeditation and deliberation Thus the court sustained the defendant s murder conviction Duest v State Facts Duest the defendant was convicted of first degree murder in a gay bashing killing during a robbery and was sentenced to death due to aggravating circumstances Issue Whether there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant of first degree murder Holding Facts of case were sufficient to find that defendant engaged in atrocious heinous and cruel murder multiple stab wounds statements that he intended to roll gay guys stole victim s jewelry Second Degree Murder Second Degree Murder statutes include Implied malice crimes created by common law judges and retained by state statute Felony murders Intent to inflict serious bodily injury murders Depraved heart murders o Unintentional but extremely reckless murders o Killing very very recklessly Some state statutes make second degree murder the catch all category People v Thomas Facts Thomas the defendant beat the victim with a rubber hose striking him 30 100 times from his waist to feet The victim died 9 days after the beating a pulmonary edema with the underlying cause of the trauma to his legs Issue Whether the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to establish the malice element of second degree murder Second Degree Murder all other kinds of murder shall be murder of the second degree and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or any term of years in the discretion of the court trying the same Holding Yes Malice may be implied when looking at the defendant s actions leading to the victim s death Felony Murder Unintentional deaths that occur during the commission of some felonies Some states say that felony murder applies to inherently dangerous felonies Approach 1 determine whether felony is inherently dangerous by looking at the crime in the abstract Approach 2 determine whether the felony is inherently dangerous by looking at the facts presented in the case case by case approach Mens Rea Felony murder does not require the intent to either kill or inflict serious bodily injury In that respect they are sometimes considered strict liability crimes but remember that the actor must have the requisite mens rea to commit the underlying felony People v Phillips Facts Phillips the defendant represented that he could cure a seriously ill child and charged money from the family Phillips did not cure the child and she eventually died Issue Whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury that grand theft is an inherently dangerous felony Holding Yes The court applied the inherently dangerous in the abstract approach to felony murder and determined that fraud is not a crime which is inherently dangerous in the abstract although in this case defendants actions were probably inherently dangerous Corporate Murder Corporations commit murder through the