Source: http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/9-3-first-degree-murder/
Timestamp: 2018-08-15 05:06:53
Document Index: 563817326

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 210', '§ 189', '§ 1841', '§ 750', '§ 2502', '§ 1841']

9.3 First-Degree Murder | Criminal Law
In this section, you analyze the factors that classify a murder as first-degree murder. Keep in mind that the criminal act, criminal intent, causation, and harm elements of murder have already been discussed.
States and the federal government usually include premeditated murder, murder by a specified means, and very serious felony murders in their first-degree murder statutes. Felony murder is discussed shortly.
Premeditated murder was originally and historically the predominant form of murder in any first-degree murder statute. A common statutory definition of first-degree premeditated murder is a willful, deliberate, premeditated killing (Mich. Comp. Laws, 2010).
Most jurisdictions define willful as a specific intent to kill, purposely, or express malice. Jurisdictions differ when interpreting deliberate and premeditated. A minority of jurisdictions equate express malice or purposely with deliberation and premeditation, which means that the prosecution need only prove specific intent to kill for a first-degree premeditated murder conviction (Hawthorne v. State, 2010). However, this interpretation could blur the distinction between first and second-degree murder. The majority of jurisdictions have defined deliberate as calm and methodical, without passion or anger (People v. Anderson, 2011). Premeditated generally means the defendant reflected on the act or planned ahead (People v. Cole, 2011). In other words, if the defendant specifically intends to kill the victim and rationally, purposefully, takes steps that culminate in the victim’s death, the defendant has committed first-degree premeditated murder in many jurisdictions.
Often it is the act itself that proves the killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated. If the killing is carried out in a manner that indicates a strong and calculated desire to bring about the victim’s death, the trier of fact can and often does conclude that the murder was premeditated (State v. Snowden, 2010).
Most jurisdictions agree that an extended period of time is not a requirement of premeditation (Commonwealth v. Carroll, 2010). Thus a murder can be premeditated and first degree even if it is conceived only moments before the actual killing (State v. Schrader, 2010). Some jurisdictions do not require any appreciable time lapse between the formation of intent and the criminal act (State v. Snowden, 2010).
Murder by a specified means is a specific method of killing that is extremely heinous. Most states list the specified means in their first-degree murder statutes. Some examples of commonly included specified means are murder by drive-by shooting, destructive device like a bomb, weapon of mass destruction, ammunition designed to puncture a bulletproof vest, poison, torture, or lying in wait, which is an ambush-style killing (Cal. Penal Code, 2010). Note that all the aforementioned methods of killing involve premeditation to a certain extent and could also probably qualify as first-degree premeditated murder.
Most states divide murder into first and second degree (N.R.S., 2011). Some states add a third degree of murder that generally includes less serious sentencing options (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann., 2010). The Model Penal Code classifies all murders as felonies of the first degree (Model Penal Code § 210.2(2)).
First-degree murder is the highest classification of murder and results in the most extreme punishment available in a jurisdiction’s punishment scheme. If the jurisdiction allows for the death penalty, first-degree murder typically is the only crime against an individual that qualifies the defendant for execution (N.R.S., 2011). If the jurisdiction does not allow for the death penalty, first-degree murder often qualifies the defendant for life in prison (Mich. Comp. Laws, 2011).
The US Supreme Court has held that criminal homicide is the only crime against an individual that can merit the death penalty (Kennedy v. Louisiana, 2010). A discussion of crimes against the government (such as treason) that merit the death penalty is in Chapter 13 “Crimes against the Government”.
In states that allow capital punishment, first-degree murder with one or more aggravating factor(s) is generally a capital offense. Examples of aggravating factors are killing more than one person, killing for financial gain, killing with a particularly heinous method, or killing a peace officer (Death Penalty Information Center 1, 2010). In general, the trier of fact must ensure that the aggravating factor(s) are not outweighed by mitigating factor(s). Examples of mitigating factors are the youth of the defendant, the defendant’s lack of a criminal history, and the fact that the defendant was acting under extreme emotional or mental disturbance (Death Penalty Information Center 2, 2010).
A jury convicted Scott Peterson of first-degree premeditated murder for the killing of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson. They also convicted him of second-degree murder for the killing of his unborn son Conner (Montaldo, C. 1, 2010). The governing statute was California Penal Code § 189 (Cal. Penal Code, 2010). After issuing the verdict, the jury sentenced Peterson to death based on the special circumstance of killing more than one person (Montaldo, C. 2, 2010).
The prosecution was successful without direct evidence or proof of the cause of death (Montaldo, C. 1, 2010).
Congress was inspired by the Peterson case to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1841 (18 U.S.C., 2010), creating the new federal crime of killing an unborn child.
Read U.S. v. Downs, 56 F.3d 973 (1995). Identify motive, planning, and preconceived design in this case. The case is available at this link: https://casetext.com/case/us-v-downs-2.
Commonwealth v. Carroll, 412 Pa. 525 (1963), accessed February 18, 2010, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13694151174720667465&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
Death Penalty Information Center 1, “Aggravating Factors for Capital Punishment by State,” accessed September 23, 2010, http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/aggravating-factors-capital-punishment-state.
Death Penalty Information Center 2, “Terry Lenamon’s List of State Death Penalty Mitigation Statutes,” accessed September 23, 2010, http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=d61d8c7b-896b-4c1a-bd87-f86425206b45.
Hawthorne v. State, 835 So. 2d 14 (2003), accessed September 19, 2010, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6294577581180338458&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
Kennedy v. Louisiana, 128 S. Ct. 2641 (2008), accessed September 21, 2010, http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-343.ZO.html.
Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.316, accessed September 19, 2010, http://law.onecle.com/michigan/750-michigan-penal-code/mcl-750-316.html.
Montaldo, C., “The Peterson Verdict: Special Circumstances,” About.com website, accessed July 15, 2010, http://crime.about.com/od/news/a/scott_verdict.htm.
Montaldo, C. 1, “Scott Peterson Guilty of first-degree murder,” About.com website, accessed July 15, 2010, http://crime.about.com/od/news/a/scott_peterson.htm.
Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 2502, accessed February 14, 2010, http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/web/pa2501.html.
People v. Anderson, 447 P.2d 942 (1968), accessed February 13, 2011, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9215896464929219588&q= definition+of+deliberate+premeditated+murder&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5.
People v. Cole, 95 P.3d 811 (2004), accessed February 13, 2011, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18037950298665209340&q= definition+of+deliberate+premeditated+murder&hl=en&as_sdt=2,5.
State v. Schrader, 302 SE 2d 70 (1982), accessed September 19, 2010, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=287453315188864266&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
State v. Snowden, 313 P.2d 706 (1957), accessed September 19, 2010, http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16193283019378884065&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr.
18 U.S.C. § 1841, accessed February 13, 2010, http://crime.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=crime&cdn=newsissues&tm=435&gps=634_398_1276_788&f=10&tt= 2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.nrlc.org/Unborn_Victims/UVVAEnrolled.html.
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