• Homicide



    llllllllHomicide: Latin homicidium, homo meaning human, and caedere meaning to cut, or to kill. Refers to the act of killing another human. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Homicide is not always an illegal act, and simply refers to a death of another human being by the hands or action of another human being.
    llllllllThe technical legal definition of Homicide in the United States is- “The killing of one human being by the act or omission of another. The term applies to all such killings, whether criminal or not. Homicide is considered noncriminal in a number of situations, including deaths as the result of war and putting someone to death by the valid sentence of a court. Killing may also be legally justified or excused, as it is in cases of self-defense or when someone is killed by another person who is attempting to prevent a violent felony. Criminal homicide occurs when a person purposely, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another. Murder and manslaughter are both examples of criminal homicide.”
    llllllll When such an offense is considered illegal by the Court of law in the United States it is either considered manslaughter or murder. Manslaughter is considered a lesser offense than murder; this resulting from the fact that a manslaughter homicide took place without malice or premeditation, either expressed or implied. This differs from murder, which requires either malice or premeditation to be considered murder, and therefore a heinous act. Examples of Manslaughter include throwing a rock down a coal mine and exactly killing a person, or performing a surgery in which the negligence of the surgeon caused the patient to die. In both examples, while the person did not intend to kill another person unlawfully, the action presented still resulted in a death, and therefore is illegal in lesser degree of homicide, and is considered manslaughter.
    llllllll There are two forms of manslaughter: 1st degree manslaughter, and 2nd degree manslaughter. First degree manslaughter consists of a person being provoked, but not excited to a point where a person may implicate harm maliciously, as this is murder. 1st degree manslaughter usually consists of a person taking a blow or a strike, such as in a fight, and therefore requires no malice to produce harm to the other person, but is merely provoked to attack back, and this harm results in the death of the attacking person. This separates 1st degree manslaughter and murder. 2nd degree murder consists of a person accidentally or unintentionally killing another person, however such an act being of usual lawful nature and typical action. Even if such an event takes place and it is considered an accident, either carelessness or negligence can result in this action being manslaughter, and if under intoxication this event is always considered at it’s lowest 2nd degree manslaughter.
    llllllllAnother form, but common form of manslaughter, is negligent manslaughter. Negligent manslaughter usually results from an accident or the carelessness of a person, the homicide still being fully capable of being prevented if the defendant had taken the necessary precautions or simply paid attention. An example of this kind of manslaughter would be for a mother to accidentally allow their baby to drown while performing another task while bathing it, or to strike and kill another person in a car accident. It should be noted that any form of manslaughter committed while intoxicated is not considered negligent, and dramatically increases the penalty for manslaughter depending on the severity of the crime.
    llllllllMurder requires either malice or premeditation to be considered murder, and generally enforces a harsher penalty for these sorts of crimes, as these homicide events are typically considered more heinous or vile in nature. Willfulness is a large determining factor in separating murder and manslaughter in law, defined as Malice. Malice, in law, is not necessarily hate or ill-will towards another human, but rather possessing a mental state in which the murder is committed in a willful or wanting manner without a legal excuse or legal justification.
    llllllllMurder in the first degree consists of malice and chiefly premeditation in a homicide. If premeditation is presented in a murder, such as a Hitman being hired to kill someone, or a person planning and procuring the necessary items in advance to murder someone in a predetermined scenario, this is considered 1st degree murder. 1st degree murder also consists of a person who murders to achieve the action of another illegal action, such as robbery, and all crimes which result from the action or with the action of another felony are considered 1st degree murder. As well, killing of a police officer or infant is considered murder of the 1st degree, and settles with the same degree of punishment as these other murders.
    llllllllMurder of the 2nd degree consists of malice or malice intent, although not premeditated. This usually consists of a person who, in the heat of moment, feels provoked or because of rage angrily attacks another person in attempt or takes away their life. An example of murder in the 2nd degree is when a person gets in a heated argument and during the argument attacks the other person, fatally wounding them. Although these homicides are considered to possess malicious intent, they are due for less punishment in the defense that a person simply “lost themselves” and were incapable of controlling themselves for the given time period. Murder with a weapon is always considered to be murder of the first degree, unless can be undeniably proven to be murder of the 2nd degree.
    llllllllAny form of illegal Homicide can result in fining with imprisonment. The highest penalty for Homicide goes all the way to 1st degree murder, which can occasionally result in Capital Punishment, less formerly known as death by the state or government. The lowest penalty for manslaughter consists of imprisonment, the precise term of years depending upon the applicable statute and reasoning of the jury. Usually the sentence that is imposed for voluntary manslaughter is greater than that given for involuntary manslaughter. In most states, a more serious penalty is imposed for criminally negligent manslaughter than for unlawful-act manslaughter. Murder of the 2nd degree usually results from anywhere from 15-25 years of imprisonment with or without parole. Murder of the 1st degree usually results in a 25 to life imprisonment, with or without parole, and occasionally can lead to capital punishment. The large differentiation in punishment for murder is largely due to widespread conflicting feeling on the kind of punishment necessary to be inflicted on people who commit murder. This largely equates to a wide range of punishments, although murder almost always, if not always, result in some form of extended imprisonment.