...Michelle Carter should have been charged with the crime of involuntary manslaughter because her actions were reckless and the crime could have been prevented if she acted differently. The definition of manslaughter according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is, “manslaughter resulting from the failure to perform a legal duty expressly required to safeguard human life, from the commission of an unlawful act not constituting a felony, or from the commission of a lawful act in a negligent or improper manner.” Carter’s actions fall under the definition of involuntary manslaughter and she needs to be accountable for her actions. Her words cannot be diminished by the fact were sent via text messages because they still influenced, and ultimately led,...
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...them will be established along with definitions of each offence. The principles of causation, actus reus (AR) and mens rea (MR) will be discussed and relevant laws applied to the facts within each case and relevant laws applied. The first section of the report, R v Tom we will be discussing the criminal liability of Tom in the death of Rachel in which both murder and manslaughter charges will be considered. The AR for both of these offences is the same and can be defined as “The unlawful killing of a human being under the Queen’s peace.”[1] Assuming the victim was alive that this scenario was not during a war, it remains to establish that this was an unlawful killing. In the case of R v Freya we will focus on the AR of omission and determine whether the defendant Nurse Freya did the act or omitted to do a legally recognised duty which resulted in the death of Rachel. We will also decide whether the act was deliberate, unlawful, and a significant cause of death. In the case of R v Freya only a charge of manslaughter will be considered as Nurse Freya had neither the direct or oblique intent to be charged with murder. R v Tom In the case of R v Tom the defendant Tom (D) swung a metal poker into the head of his wife V (V). V was sent to hospital and diagnosed with a fractured skull but regained consciousness. Upon waking V found painkillers by her bed and took an overdose resulting in her death. There are several elements that constitute the AR of...
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...Critically Evaluate the Law in the areas of Murder and Voluntary Manslaughter and include the consideration of possible reforms. Homicide, in English criminal law is a generic term covering offences such as murder, manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. What they all have in common is the unlawful killing of a human being, and what distinguishes them is the state of mind of the defendant who has caused the death or the defences available to them. According to Coke's classic definition, Murder is when a man of sound memory and of an age of discretion unlawfully killed within the any country of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum natura (the person) under the King's peace with malice afore thought either expressed by the party or implied by law. [So as the party wounded etc die of the wound or hurt, etc within a year and a day of the same]. Coke's definition should not be read literally and it is neither accurate or helpful. For instance, any person can be found guilty of murder and the year and a day rule was abolished by S1 law Reform Act 1996. The reference to 'malice afore thought' this suggests some element of planning and ill will on the part of the murder when in truth it can be spontaneous and the law requires no evidence of ill will. From the outset it should be started that a few centuries of Jurisprudence and the odd statutory intervention such fundamental terms as causation & intention let alone when does life begin and end should have been well matured...
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...Non-Criminal A homicide, whether it is accidental or intentional, can tear a family apart. The results of such a tragedy not only affect the family, but trickle down to friends, co-workers and even a whole community. A homicide is defined as “the killing of a human being by another human being.”(Schmalleger & Hall, 2014, p. 210) Under early common law, established by English courts, homicide was either felonious or non-felonious. Justifiable homicide and excusable homicide were considered non-felonious and felonious homicide was distinguished as murder. U.S. courts adopted English common law, and as time went on, modified felonious or criminal homicide into various categories. Today there are three types of homicide. They are justifiable, excusable, and criminal. Justifiable homicide and excusable homicide are considered noncriminal homicides. Criminal homicide can be further broken down into three categories, murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. According to the Bureau of Statistics, the homicide rate in the United States has declined since 2000 and has fallen to levels last seen back in the 1960’s. (bjs.gov) Males represent the highest percentage of victims, and the percentage of men who were the victims of a homicide is three times higher than that of a female victim. Men are also the majority of the offenders in a criminal homicide. (bjs.gov) Homicide rates can, of course, vary per state; Louisiana has the highest rate, with Iowa having the lowest. In the...
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...Murder: And all its forms Throughout the criminal justice system, news, and in many other situations the term “murder” is used quite frequently however usually incorrectly. Some people say animals or even trees get murdered, but under the law it is not murder unless a human takes the life of another human. Homicide is a lawful term for any killing of a human being by another human being. Homicide itself is not automatically a crime, some homicides are legal, such as the justifiable killing of a suspect by the police or a killing in self-defense. Unlawful homicides are classified as crimes like murder and manslaughter. This paper will explain the important but often overlooked distinctions between murder and manslaughter, and the different variations of both crimes. When we look at “murder” we must also look at the different degrees of murder which are a reflection of the intent or severity of a certain murder charge. The most common degrees of murder are 1st degree murder and 2nd degree murder and in some cases what we call “capital murder”. Regardless of the label on the degree of the murder committed, the general idea is to increase the punishment with the degree. The more inhumane the killing is, or the motive associated behind the killing, then the greater the punishment and degree is for the murder. We must first understand what murder is: Murder is the killing of one human by another that is intentional, unlawful, and done with “malice aforethought” or in other words...
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...three different types of homicide, which are justifiable, excusable, and criminal. Common law puts criminal homicide into two groups: murder and manslaughter. The Model Penal Code categorizes criminal homicide into murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. Justifiable homicides are legal killings acceptable by law, and society. These killings consist of a state-ordered execution military killing of an enemy solider while serving on active duty. Any death caused by legitimate self-defense can also be an excusable homicide. An excusable homicide is “those homicides that may involve some fault but not enough for the act to be considered criminal” (Schmalleger & Dolatowski, 2010). An excusable homicide could be one in which a driver of a motor vehicle has an accident that results in death, but the defendant was not negligent. Criminal homicide is the killing of a human being by another whose actions were found by the courts to have elements that were “purposeful, knowing, reckless, or negligent resulting in the killing of one human by another human” (Schmalleger & Dolatowski, 2010). Criminal homicide is murder, manslaughter, or negligent homicide that would involve two individuals engaging in physical confrontation over a situation such as a cheating spouse. One of the individuals takes out a gun and fatally shoots the other. Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, carried out with malice, or planned. Depending on state statutes, there are...
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...Corporate manslaughter * Homicide – this is when any act which results in unlawful killing of a person. The main criminal charges for homicide would be murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. However all homicides require the killing of a living person. * Murder – this is when a person unlawful kills another person under the queens peace, with malice aforethought, either expressed or implied by the law so as the victim wounded or hurt etc, if they die due to the wound within a year and a day the defendant would be charged with murder. * Actus Reus of murder would be if the defendant did the act or omitted to do a legally recognised duty. (An act or omission), the act was deliberate, the act was unlawful. (As opposed to killing in self defence), the defendants act was the significant cause of the death, the death was of a human being. * Mens Reus of murder would be having the clear intention to kill another human being. * Voluntary manslaughter – * Provocation - This is when a person is provoked by things done or said or sometimes both which may lead to a sudden and temporary loss of self control which leads the defendant into committing the crime. Provocation is such that a reasonable person would lose self control. * Dimished responsibility – This is when a person is suffering from abnormality of mind (whether arising from arrested or retarded development of mind or any inherent causes or induced by disease...
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...kills a child playing across the street. The Prosecutor files murder charges against John. Murder charges against John are not the proper offense to charge in this case. The proper offense to be charged would be involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter refers to an unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence, or from an unlawful act that is a misdemeanor or low-level felony (FindLaw). The crime John committed is one in which the victims’ death was unintended. All the elements to be convicted for involuntary manslaughter were met. There are three elements that must be satisfied in order for someone to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter: (1) Someone was killed as a result of an act by the defendant (2) The Act either was inherently dangerous to others or done with reckless disregard for human life (3) The defendant knew or should have known his or her conduct was a threat to the lives of others (FindLaw). Involuntary manslaughter covers situations in which the defendant has caused death but does not satisfy the mens rea requirements of murder; it is a less culpable form of homicide (Caoimhe). Mens rea in this particular situation would be considered as Reckless Disregard. Involuntary manslaughter typically includes a killing done by someone acting with reckless disregard for the consequences of their actions (England). As noted above, involuntary manslaughter is the unintentional killing of another human. This differs...
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...Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam, and Yemen. The methods of death penalties still in use are decapitation, electrocution, firing squad, gas chamber, hanging, lethal injection, shooting, and stoning. 1. A discussion of the differences between ‘manslaughter’ and ‘murder’ and a discussion of the recourse a convicted murder has after being sentenced. Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in an approach considered by law as less culpable than murder. Murder is the illegal slaughter, with malice aforethought, of another human. Manslaughter is divided into two categories voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary manslaughter is when a person kills a person with the intention of malice but, justifying circumstances present themselves resulting in them becoming less culpable. Involuntary manslaughter is the illegitimate killing of a person without the intention to kill. There are several differences; one is that murder is premeditated while manslaughter is protection. The other difference is that murder has a high penalty and the penalty for manslaughter. Then they would have steps in their recourse after being sentenced for their crime....
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...Second degree murder is still murder with the intent to harm someone and planning it out over time and actually doing it. A man comes home and finds his wife to cheating he is upset and grabs his stuff and leaves. Over a few weeks, he plans to kill the guy she was cheating with. This would be second degree murder because he planned it out and he actually did it. Voluntary manslaughter is heat of the moment, you get mad at something and act on it right then, no time to plan it out. An example is the man comes home and finds his wife cheating and kills the other man she is cheating with. He didn’t plan it out but he did still kill the other man. This college student didn’t plan on harming anyone, he just wanted to go home. He didn’t say to himself,...
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...1 After looking at the definitions of murder, homicide, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter, I think that it would depend on what crime I committed if I was going to be charged as an adult. If the crime was well thought out and planned, then a juvenile has the "maturity" to plan something as an adult would so the juvenile should be charged as an adult would. If it wasn't premeditated and something that just happened, then I would think differently. Activity 2 Adult - a fully mature person; fully developed and mature. Juvenile - Immature or childish; a person who has not reached maturity. Child - A young human being between birth and puberty; acts childish, not mature. Juveniles are usually middle school age kids or young teens. Juveniles are usually just getting some independence. They can go places without their parents, get phones, unlike a child who needs the parent's help with almost everything. But, they are not always old enough to drive, vote, or have a job. They can be mouthy, head strong, and adventurous because they are growing up but aren't "grown up." They aren't mature enough to be an adult but more mature than a child. Homicide - A person who would intentionally shove another person off a cliff has committed homicide. This could be planned before hand or just happen. Either way, the one person intends to kill the other person. Murder - A man plans to rob a bank and takes a gun...
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...Ch. 3 Homicide Manslaughter= killings which lack malice aforethought; or where malice is mitigated -In some cases, a killing is manslaughter because there is simply no intention on the part of the killer to cause the death of another but death results from a reckless act. -In other cases, killing is intentional but is mitigated, or reduced, from murder to manslaughter because of the surrounding circumstances. Malice Aforethought= the conscious intent to cause death or great bodily harm to another person before a person commits the crime. Such malice is a required element to prove first degree murder. Voluntary Manslaughter Voluntary Manslaughter= killings that are the natural and probable result of the defendant’s recklessness, or conscious disregard for human life or safety. *An unlawful killing caused by a willful act done with full knowledge and awareness that the person is endangering the life of another, and done in conscious disregards of that risk is voluntary manslaughter or murder. -California Penal Code 192(a) defines voluntary manslaughter as the “unlawful killing of a human being without malice.” * Heat of Passion Killings: killing in response to legally adequate provocation (malice is mitigated) * Imperfect Self-Defense : killing with an honest but unreasonable belief in the right to use deadly force (malice is mitigated) Elements of Voluntary Manslaughter: * Actus reus- the intentional killing of another * Mans rea- the killer acted either: ...
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...intersection where she didn’t see the stop sign, an accident happened. Krista collided with a car driven by Betty Carley. Carley then suffered injuries and die at a hospital. Hallett was charged with manslaughter. Analysis: In this case, Hallett will be charge with criminal homicide. There are three kinds of criminal homicide, Muder, Manslaughter and Negligent homicide. Murder is defined as the killing of one human being by another intentionally with malice aforethought, In many states can by punished by the death penalty because Murder is graded as felony. However in this case, Hallett could not be guilty of murder. Because the evidence showed that Hallett was not premeditated remove the stop sign. He didn’t intended to cause the injuries of Carley. So due to the definition of murder. Hallett can’t be guilty for Murder. In determining whether one should be charged with manslaughter the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder. Moreover. Whether the person could be charged with the same offense which cause him has had to defense.,In this case, due to the definition of Manslaughter, Hallett didn’t face any dangerous when he was removing the stop sign. Therefore,Hallett can not be charge with manslaughter. In this case, Hallett can be charge with Negligent homicide. Negligent homicide defined as when one person causes the death of another through criminal negligence which the victim's death is unintended...
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...usually considered involuntary or reckless, manslaughter. Under Virginia law, murder is defined as "the unlawful killing of another with malice aforethought." Stapleton v. Commonwealth, 123 Va. 825, 96 S. E. 801; Premeditation, or specific intent to kill, distinguishes murder in the first from murder in the second degree; proof of this element is essential to conviction of the former offense, and the burden of proving it clearly rests with the prosecution. Shiflett v. Commonwealth, 143 Va. 609, 130 S. E. 777; Jefferson v. Commonwealth, 214 Va. 432, 201 S. E. 2d 749. Joe a resident of Norfork, Virginia, is angry with his boss, Jerry, because he has just been fired. Joe goes to a bar and drowns his sorrows in 4 pints of been. Joe leaves the bar with a new degree of “liquid courage.” He goes into the hardware store and purchases a knife, he then staggers straight to Jerry’s house. He bursts into Jerry’s house, hunts down Jerry, and kills him with the knife. Joe is arrested and tried for first degree murder. The prosecution alleges that the murder was premeditated and announces that it will be seeking the death penalty for Joe. Joe claims that although the murder was planned and voluntary, he was so drunk that he could not have properly formed the intent to kill and should therefore not be subject to the murder charge. According to Virginia Code § 18.2-32. First and second degree murder defined; punishment. Murder, other than capital murder, by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment,...
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... Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for life or for 25 years. b. Every other punishable homicide shall be taken to be manslaughter. 2) a. No act or omission which was not malicious, or for which the accused had lawful cause or excuse, shall be within this section. b. No punishment or forfeiture shall be incurred by any person who kills another by misfortune only. It must be proved BRD that D had intention or had recklessly caused the death or GBH . Established where fatal altercation could be proved by the prosecution that existence of intent of some acts but not all, the conviction for murder could not follow unless evident that those acts causing the death were done with the necessary intent - DPP v De Jun Zheng [2013] . Although F’s death occurred a week after the acts and not immediately after there is no requirement as to the duration between the acts in question and the death in accordance with s.17A of the Act so long as the acts in question have been a substantial and significant contribution to the death of the deceased. Actus Reus of Murder The...
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