The word "capital" refers to any crime in which death is a possible punishment. In the United States, murder is the only crime for which you can be executed at the state level. The federal government still considers treason, terrorism and drug trafficking to be capital crimes. The term murder is a fairly generic term that refers to the killing of one human being by another. Although the term is often associated with murders, there are actually two different types of murder. First, justifiable murders are those in which the perpetrator is excused or justified for committing the murder and is not punished. Second, criminal homicides are those that are usually inexcusable or against the law and are considered the worst type of crime a human being can perpetrate. We will talk about these two different types of murder in more detail later. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay But first, if you didn't know, the word murder is also the word to describe a large group of crows. A murder of crows. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that this is an allusion to the raven's traditional association with violent death or its harsh, hoarse cry. If you've ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really sounds like they're screaming bloody murder. A homicide is considered justifiable if it occurs out of necessity for the protection or defense of life or property or if it is committed by policemen, soldiers or prison officers in the exercise of their employment and in the performance of duty. This includes prison guards, the warden, and other state employees participating in an execution. They are committing justifiable homicide. States vary in what types of tests are considered justifiable. In some states, the mere presence of an intruder in a home is enough to justify killing the intruder. In other states, you are able to protect your property, your neighbor's property, and your car, while in other states you are justified in killing an intruder only if he or she had a gun and you were threatened. Florida and Texas have some of the most lenient justifiable homicide laws. In Texas, the laws are called castle laws and give an individual the right to protect their home or castle. This refers to the Old English saying that a man's home is his castle. In Florida, the law is called stand your ground law. Other states like Vermont, South Dakota, and Nebraska have weaker or no specific castle laws. In these states, reference is made to the need to retreat before the use of reasonable and necessary force. In several states, a distinction is made between what is considered excusable and justifiable homicide. Excusable homicide typically refers to actual accidents that are not caused by negligence and in which the perpetrator is at least partially at fault. So an example of an excusable homicide would be a car accident, but not one where the driver was drinking or texting while driving. In these cases, the driver engaged in illegal or reckless behavior, which is not excusable. Criminal homicide. While people involved in a justifiable or excusable homicide are not held criminally responsible, there are several types of homicides that constitute criminal offenses and could land someone on death row. The most serious form of criminal homicide is first-degree murder. This means that the murders are intentional and occur with malice and premeditation, that is, with premeditation or that the murder was thought out in advance. All theFirst degree murders must have these two elements: premeditation and deliberation. This means that for a murder to be first-degree murder, the perpetrator must have thought about and planned the murder and must have done it deliberately and intentionally. This is distinguished from second degree murder in that second degree is often considered a lesser murder because there was no planning or intent. It often occurs when people show extreme indifference to life or when someone has engaged in serious or potentially harmful behavior, even if they did not intend to kill. For example, if Joseph took a gun to a park and was practicing target practice even though there were small children running around him, he is engaging in potentially dangerous behavior. If a child is shot and dies, Joseph could be charged with second-degree murder because, although he did not intend to kill the child, he should have known that his dangerous behavior could lead to such an outcome. Manslaughter is a type of criminal homicide that is less than murder. Manslaughter generally does not involve any malice or homicidal intent and is usually defined in one of two ways. First, manslaughter can occur in the heat of passion. The most common example of this is if a man meets his wife in bed with another man and immediately pulls out a gun, shoots and kills her. This is considered manslaughter because the killing occurred as an instinctive and emotional response. Man has no time to think or calm down before his actions. The man left the room, went to the kitchen, looked for a large knife and then went back upstairs to kill his wife, that could be first degree murder because he had enough time to plan the death as he went down and got the murder weapon. The second common form of manslaughter involves negligence, although not as severe as the previous example of second-degree murder. The common form of manslaughter can be death from a car accident in which the driver engaged in negligent behavior such as texting and not paying attention while driving. Felony homicide is a death that occurs during the commission of a crime, regardless of whether the death was accidental or natural, and regardless of who the actual killer is. For example, if Bobby set fire to a supposedly abandoned building and a homeless person died inside, Bobby could be charged with criminal homicide, which is considered first-degree murder. Or, if Luke is robbing the Bank of America and pulls a gun on the elderly bank teller, and if she goes berserk and drops dead of a heart attack, Luke can be blamed for her death because her death is the direct result of his criminal behavior. The murder crime rule arises from the idea of ​​transferred intent. Since the wrongdoer intended to do a bad thing, he or she is responsible for all the consequences of that bad thing, even if those consequences are unintended. Different states have different rules regarding criminal homicide. In some states, the crime may only be rape, robbery, arson, or burglary. In other states, it is often used to charge co-defendants with more serious crimes. For example, if two people were involved in a robbery but only one person pulled the trigger, the other defendant can still be charged with murder because the death was a result of his or her involvement in the criminal conduct of the robbery. The murder crime rule may also apply to murder-for-hire or plots to commit murder. Criminal murdersthey represent 40% of people on death row. Most of these come from deaths that occurred during the commission of a robbery or rape. Note, however, that few of those who were actually executed were executed for a crime of murder. A local example is the case where Buford White stood guard outside a house while two men entered and looked for drugs. While inside, they killed six occupants of the house. He was held criminally responsible and executed in 1987. The two murderers were also executed. So what is the point of having different types of criminal homicides and different degrees of homicide? The concept originated in the 1800s that the death penalty could be reserved for the worst kind of crime. In colonial America, people were executed for a wide variety of crimes, including robbery, adultery, horse theft, engaging in witchcraft, or working on Sundays. By creating different levels of murder severity, it is possible to differentiate levels of responsibility so that the person who planned and planned their murder will be punished to a greater extent than someone who may have killed unintentionally. But who decides what kind of murder is a death? In each jurisdiction, it is up to the district attorney or chief prosecutor to distinguish what type of homicide constitutes a death. In fact, it is up to the public prosecutor to decide whether or not a crime has occurred. That is, the prosecutor may designate a homicide as justifiable or the prosecutor may not charge someone if there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. One of the challenges in determining what degree of homicide a death may be is that these definitions are subjective and fluid. They are not set in stone. For example, how long does someone have to premeditate before murder can be considered first degree? Four days? Two hours? Six seconds? There is no hard and fast rule and it is up to the prosecutor to determine whether or not there is evidence that the murder was premeditated and whether this can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Next, I'll give you a few different examples of real-life murder cases. Can you identify what type of murder this is? What type of murder is this? Freddy was on the porch trying to load his legally licensed and registered rifle. He was struggling because the gun's frame was bent and the magazine wouldn't load easily. While he was struggling, his 15-year-old neighbor, Jacob, approached and asked Freddy what he was doing. At that moment, the gun suddenly went off and killed Jacob. What kind of murder is this? If you said second degree murder, you'd be right. While it initially appears that it may have been an accidental or excusable killing, the fact that the gun was bent shows that Freddie was careless and struggling to load the gun on the porch while other people were around shows an extreme indifference towards the human life. This is not first degree murder because there was no premeditation or intent. Freddy didn't mean to kill Jacob. It happened as a consequence of this extreme imprudence. What kind of murder is this? Frank just won $1,244 at the casino and was going to the cashier to redeem his coupon when Eugene snatched the coupon out of his hand and ran away. But he didn't get very far before the cops caught him. Frank identified Eugene as the robber and told the police he wanted to prosecute the man. But while giving his testimony, Frank put his hands on his chest and died of a heart attack. What kind of murder is this? If you said the crime was murder, you'd be right. A crime of murder does not require intent to kill. It only requires a death that is onedirect consequence of the crime, even if the death is natural or accidental. In this case, Frank's death is the direct result of Eugene robbing him. Remember, however, that it is up to the prosecutor to decide what the charges are. So, even if it is a murder crime, which carries the same punishments as first degree murder, it may be an excessive punishment given the situation. The prosecutor must treat each case differently and take into account the individual circumstances and strength of the evidence before determining charges. What kind of murder is this? In the middle of the night, John broke into Jessica's house and kidnapped her. He forced her into his car and kept her tied up in his house for three days. After beating and sexually assaulting her, John strangled her so she couldn't tell and hid the body in a nearby landfill. What kind of murder is this? This is a pretty clear case of first degree murder. This shows that the crime was deliberate and thoughtful. He kept her tied up and killed her so she couldn't tell, and he purposely hid the body. This example is based on the Jessica Lunsforda Homosassa case in Florida. In 2005, she was a nine-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her home, held captive by John Couey for three days before he buried her on his porch. She was still alive when she was buried. Couey had a long criminal history and the case was tried as a capital or death penalty case. John Couey was sentenced to death in 2007, although he died of cancer-related complications in 2009 while awaiting his first appeal. What kind of murder is this? After a night of partying with summer friends, Ryan lent Alan his car and went home to bed. Alan and three other people went to Christine's home, where they stole a safe containing a pound of marijuana and $425. One of the thieves, Charles, used a rifle he found in the house to fatally shoot Christine. What kind of murder is this? For Alan, Charles, and the two other men in the house who rob Christine, this is first-degree murder. Since all the men were in the house during the crime, they could all be charged with murder, even if Charles was the only one to commit the actual murder. What about Ryan, though? Would he be charged with murder? Yes, the prosecutor also charged Ryan with felony murder and accused him of being an expert because Ryan allegedly knew his friends were planning the robbery, a charge he denies. Furthermore, the prosecutor did not explain either the car or the murder. Furthermore, the victim's father agreed: this would never have happened if Ryan Hall hadn't loaned the car. It was as beautiful as if it were there. This refers to the real-life case of Ryan Hall, who is currently serving a life sentence at Wakulla Penitentiary southwest of Tallahassee. For more information on his case, click on the photo to link to a New York Times article. This case highlights the power of the prosecutor and the discretion he has in determining who to charge and what to charge them with. And another example. What kind of murder is this? Joe saw a couple of men outside his neighbor's house. He thought they were trying to burglarize the house. Joe called 911, but also went to get his rifle. The 911 operator told Joe to wait for the police and not to confront the men. Joe decided that the police would take too long to arrive and arrest the robbers, so we went out and shot the two men in the back. What kind of murder is this? This is also a real case and the actual charges may surprise you. There were none. The.