The Fine Line Between the Three Degrees of Murder: Do You Know What They Are?

Murder, as defined by the law, is the unjustified taking of a human life. For an individual to be charged with murder there has to be a set criteria met; these vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but most include intent, willful intent or knowledge that taking a human life is a crime. Very basic things that even a rookie law intern would be able to prove on his or her worst day.

Before you get into defining the classes or degrees of murder, you should know the basics of some other terms.

Homicide: A death that can be classified as accidental or justifiable. These include killing someone if they attack you, make a direct threat that puts your life in jeopardy or in the case of the police, refuse to back down from an escalated situation. In these situations there is intent to kill since it is not considered a spur of the moment decision to kill someone.

Manslaughter: There are two sub classes; involuntary manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter. Voluntary Manslaughter pleas include Provocation, Heat of Passion and Diminished Responsibility. Involuntary Manslaughter covers a lot of different ground including Vehicular Manslaughter, Intoxicated Manslaughter, Criminal Neglect and Recklessness. Each of these pleas have different contingencies so it is impossible to charge someone with a specific degree of murder until the investigation has been at least partially closed.

What isn't considered murder? In addition to a death that is ruled a homicide or manslaughter, suicide isn't considered a murder but there have been cases where people have been charged with assisting in a murder such as Dr. Jack Kevorkian and the euthanasia. This ties in closely with determining if a person was alive at the time of the act; a good example of this is if someone was alive when they were shot. Gang situations always present a problem if there are multiple shooters at the scene; without extensive testing it is almost impossible to determine who delivered the first shot and who is responsible for the actual taking of a life.