Criminal Law CJ 220

1. Criminal Law CJ 220 Chapter 9 / Crimes Against Persons: Criminal Homicide Andrew Fulkerson, JD, PhD Southeast Missouri State University

2. Criminal Homicide History • Early common law • Killing either: • Justified - no crime • Unjustified - crime

3. Criminal Homicide History • By 1700 law recognized three types homicide: • Justifiable homicide • Excusable homicide • Criminal homicide

4. Criminal Homicide History • Justifiable Homicide: • Self-defense • Capital punishment • Police use of deadly force

5. Criminal Homicide History • Excusable homicide • Insanity • Accidental killing

6. Criminal Homicide History • Criminal homicide • Killing that is not justified or excused

7. Criminal Homicide History • Two degrees of homicide • Murder • Manslaughter • Determined by mens rea • Murder – killing with malice aforethought • Malice-intentional killing without excuse • Aforethought-planned in advance (premeditated)

8. Modern Levels of Homicide • Murder • First degree • Second degree • Manslaughter • Voluntary • Involuntary • Negligent Homicide

9. Elements in grading murder • Mens rea • Actus reus • Circumstance elements • Felony murder • Vulnerable victim • Motive

10. Elements of Criminal Homicide Homicide – killing another live human being – (common law crime) Justifiable homicide– self-defense, police use of deadly force Excusable homicide– accidental killing; killing while insane Criminal homicide– neither justified or excused

11. Elements of Criminal Homicide • Taking a Life • At common law a “life” was a live human being

12. Elements of Criminal Homicide When Does Life Begin? • Common law – life began when baby born • Some states have fetal death statutes

13. Elements of Criminal Homicide • Distinguish between legal abortion and killing without woman’s consent in non-medical manner • Roe v. Wade held that it is unconstitutional to make it a crime to terminate a pregnancy under certain circumstances

14. Elements of Criminal Homicide • When does life end? • Historically, life ended when there was no breathing and heartbeat.

15. Elements of Criminal Homicide • Medical science now has capacity to maintain respiration and circulation artificially through machines, even though there is no brain function. • Brain death is now considered as when life ends.

16. Elements of Criminal Homicide • Causing Another’s Death • Causation • Proximate cause • “Year and a day rule”

17. Murder • At common law murder was killing another person, with express or implied malice aforethought.

18. Murder • Malice aforethought included the following mental states: • Intent to kill • Intent to inflict bodily harm • Intent to commit dangerous felonies • Intent to resist arrest by force • Creation of a greater than reckless risk of death or serious bodily harm (called “depraved heart murder”)

19. Criminal Law CJ 220 Chapter 9 / Crimes Against Persons: Criminal Homicide Andrew Fulkerson, JD, PhD Southeast Missouri State University

20. Murder • First-Degree Murder • Common law graded murder by degrees-all homicides capital crimes. • Pennsylvania was first state to establish degrees of murder. Due to death penalty reform.

21. Murder • Premeditated, Deliberate Murder • First degree murder has narrow definition of intent to kill • Mens rea is premeditated deliberate killing • Premeditated means D planned murder in advance • Deliberate means D killed in “cold blood” not in sudden rage

22. Murder • Most courts eliminate element of advance planning. • Intent can be formed in an instant • Some courts have held the intent can be formed at the very moment the shot was fired.

23. Byford v. State, 994 P.2d 700 (Nev. 2000)

24. State v. Thompson, 65 P.3d 420 (Ariz. 2003)

25. State v. Snowden, 79 Idaho 266, 313 P.2d 706 (1957)

26. Murder • Heinous or Atrocious Murder • Some states include heinous or atrocious killing as within 1st degree murder, as aggravating factors to justify the higher grade of murder.

27. Murder • Henyard v. State, 689 So.2d 239 (Fla. 1996)

28. Murder • Commonwealth v. Golston 373 Mass. 249, 366 N.E.2d 744 (1977) • Duest v. State, 462 So.2d 446 (Fla. 1985)

29. Murder Second-Degree Murder • Generally: Intentional killings which are not premeditated, justified or excused. • (a broader definition) Arizona: • Person intentionally causes death of another person; or • Knowing his conduct will cause death or serious physical injury, causes the death of another person; or • Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, D engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death and causes the death of another person.

30. People v. Protoppas, 201 Cal.App. 3d 152 (Cal.App. 1998)

31. Murder • People v. Thomas, 85 Mich. App. 618, 272 N.W.2d 157 (1978)

32. Felony Murder • Killing one you did not mean to kill while committing some felonies. • Which felonies? Most common: • criminal sexual conduct • kidnapping • arson • robbery • burglary

33. Felony Murder • No intent to kill in felony murder • Intent to commit the felony is transferred to the intent to kill • Intent to commit the felony satisfies the mens rea for felony murder. Intent to commit the felony makes the D blameworthy enough

34. Felony Murder • Public policy goals of felony murder laws. • Deter offenders: additional threat of murder conviction intended to prevent persons from committing felonies that could result in death.

35. Felony Murder • Public policy goals of felony murder laws. • Reduce violence: Threat of murder conviction intended to reduce violence in commission of felonies. Make felons be more careful in their criminal acts.

36. Felony Murder • Public policy goals of felony murder laws. • Punish offenders: Persons who commit felonies creating high risk of death or injury during crimes should be punished more harshly.

37. Felony Murder • Research: Felony murder laws do not deter dangerous criminal offenders or reduce number of deaths in felonies. • Four states, Ohio, Hawaii, Michigan, and Kentucky, have abolished felony murder. • Other states have limited felony murder to foreseeable deaths.

38. Felony Murder • Deaths caused by third persons. • What if victim, a police officer, or a co-D killed someone? • Some states do not include deaths caused by third persons.

39. Felony Murder • Resisting victim exception. • Some states that exclude third party deaths have a resisting victim exception. When the victim resists and kills a person, the D can be guilty of felony murder. Foreseeable that a victim will resist.

40. Felony Murder • Dangerous felonies. • Example: California Supreme Court held a chiropractor who fraudulently treated patient for cancer who died not guilty of felony murder. Fraud not a dangerous felony.

41. Felony Murder • State v. Stewart, 663 A.2d 912 (RI 1995)

42. Felony Murder • People v. Phillips, 414 P.2d 353 (Cal. 1966)

43. Corporate Murder • Corporations can be charged with criminal offenses. • Ford Motor Co. charged with reckless homicide for the exploding Pintos. • (case dismissed for reasons other than corporate liability) • Autumn Hills Convalescent Homes, for deaths resulting from neglect of residents.

44. Ford Exploding Pinto • From Ford Motor Company internal memorandum: "Fatalities Associated with Crash-Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires."

45. Benefits

46. Costs

47. Corporate Murder • Prosecutors rarely charge corporations with homicide, and courts rarely convict. • Even though corporations are legal “persons”, courts are reluctant to view them as such for criminal purposes. • Culpability is difficult to establish • officers not know of the acts • officers not authorize the killing

48. Corporate Murder • People v. O’Neil, 194 Ill.App.3d 79, 550 N.E.2d 1090 (1990)

49. Criminal Law CJ 220 Chapter 9 / Crimes Against Persons: Criminal Homicide Andrew Fulkerson, JD, PhD Southeast Missouri State University

50. Manslaughter • Voluntary Manslaughter: intentional killing of a person under extenuating circumstances. • Imperfect self-defense • an honest but not reasonable belief that the killing is necessary for self-defense. Ex. Can reduce 1st degree murder to voluntary manslaughter.