The word “capital” refers to any crime for 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 continues to consider treason, terrorism, and drug trafficking to be capital crimes. The term homicide is a fairly generic term which refers to the killing of one human being by another. Although the term is often associated with murder, there are actually two different types of homicide. First, justifiable homicides are those in which the perpetrator is excused or justified from killing and is not punished. Second, criminal homicides are those that are generally not excused or against the law and are considered the worst type of crime a human being can commit. We will then talk in more detail about these two types of homicides. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not 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 screaming at the top of their lungs, 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 police officers, soldiers or correctional officers in the course of their employment and in the course of exercise of their functions. This includes prison guards, the warden, and other state employees who participate 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 own property, your neighbor's property, and your car, while in some states you are only allowed to kill an intruder if he had a weapon and you were threat. Florida and Texas have some of the most lenient justifiable homicide laws. In Texas, the laws are called castle laws, giving an individual the right to protect their home or castle. This refers to the old English adage that a man's house is his castle. In Florida, the law is called the Basic Law. Other states, like Vermont, South Dakota, and Nebraska, have weaker or non-existent castle laws. In these states, they refer to the need to retreat before resorting to reasonable and necessary force. In many states, they make a distinction between what is considered excusable and justifiable homicide. Excusable homicide generally refers to true accidents that are not caused by negligence and in which the perpetrator is at least partially responsible. So, an example of excusable homicide would be a car accident, but not one in which the driver was drinking or texting while driving. In these cases, the driver was behaving illegally or recklessly, which is not excusable. Criminal homicide. Although people who engage in justifiable or excusable homicide are not held criminally responsible, there are several types of homicide that constitute criminal offenses and can land someone on death row. The most serious form of criminal homicide is first degree murder. This means that the killings are intentional and occur with apremeditated malice, that is to say with premeditation or that the murder was thought out in advance. All first-degree murderers must possess these two elements: premeditation and deliberation. This means that for a homicide to be first degree murder, the perpetrator must have thought and planned the killing and must have committed it deliberately and intentionally. This is distinguished from second degree murder in that second degree is often considered minor murder because there was no planning or intent. This often happens when people show extreme indifference to life or when someone engages in serious or potentially dangerous behavior, even if they did not intend to kill. For example, if Joseph took a gun to a park and practiced shooting even though young children were 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 even if he did not intend to kill the child, he should have known that his dangerous behavior could have led to such result. Involuntary manslaughter is a less serious type of criminal homicide than murder. Involuntary manslaughter generally does not involve any malicious or murderous intent and is generally defined in one of two ways. First, manslaughter can occur in the heat of passion. The most common example is where a man catches his wife in bed with another man and immediately pulls out a gun, shoots her and kills her. This is considered manslaughter because killing is a knee-jerk, emotional reaction. Man does not have time to think or calm down before his actions. The man left the room, went down to the kitchen, looked for a large knife, then went back upstairs to kill his wife, this could be first degree murder as he had enough time to plan the death while he went down and got the murder weapon. The second common form of manslaughter involves negligence, but not with the severity of the previous example of second-degree homicide. The common form of manslaughter can be death following a car accident in which the driver engaged in negligent behavior, such as texting and not paying attention while driving. Felony murder is a death that occurs during the commission of a crime, whether the death is accidental or natural and regardless of the identity of the actual murderer. For example, if Bobby's set fire to an allegedly abandoned building and a homeless person died inside, Bobby could be charged with murder, which is considered first-degree murder. Or if Luke robs the Bank of America and pulls a gun on the elderly teller, and she panics and drops dead of a heart attack, Luke can be blamed for her death because her death was a direct result of his criminal behavior. The rule of felony murder arises from the idea of ​​transferred intent. Since the offender intended to do a bad thing, he is responsible for all the consequences of that bad thing, even if those consequences are unintended. Different states have different rules regarding felony murder. In some states, the crime can 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 engaged in a robbery but only one person pulled the trigger, the other defendant may still be charged with murder because a death resulted from their criminal robbery behavior. The felony murder rule may also applycontract killings or conspiracies to commit murder. Criminal murderers represent 40% of those sentenced to death. Most of them are linked to deaths occurring during the commission of a robbery or rape. Note, however, that few of those who were actually executed were for felony murder. A local example was when Buford White stood guard outside a house while two men entered and looked for drugs. Inside, they killed six of the house's occupants. He was held criminally responsible and executed in 1987. The two shooters were also executed. So what's the point of having different types of criminal homicide and different degrees of murder? The concept originated in the 1800s so that the death penalty could be reserved for the worst types of crimes. In colonial America, people were executed for a wide variety of crimes, including theft, adultery, stealing a horse, engaging in witchcraft, or working on Sundays. By creating different levels of severity of homicide, it is possible to differentiate the levels of responsibility so that the person who planned and plotted their murder is punished more severely than the person who killed unintentionally. But who decides what type of homicide a death is? In each jurisdiction, it is up to the prosecutor or lead prosecutor to distinguish what type of homicide a death is. In fact, it is up to the prosecutor to decide whether a crime has been committed or not. That is, the prosecutor can designate a homicide as justifiable or not charge someone if there is not enough evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. One of the challenges in determining how much of a homicide a death may constitute is that these definitions are subjective and fluid. They are not set in stone. For example, how long does one have to premeditate before a 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 or not it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Next, I will give you different examples of real homicide cases. Can you identify what type of homicide each of them is? What type of homicide is this? Freddy was on the porch trying to load his legally licensed and registered rifle. He was having trouble because the frame of the gun was bent and the magazine wasn't loading easily. As he struggled, 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 type of homicide is this? If you were talking about second degree murder, you would be correct. Although it initially appeared to be an accidental or excusable homicide, the fact that the gun was bent shows that Freddie was negligent and struggled to load his gun on his porch while d If other people were there, it shows extreme indifference to human life. This is not first degree murder as there was no premeditation or intent. Freddy didn't plan to kill Jacob. This happened as a result of this extreme recklessness. What type of homicide is this? Frank had just won $1,244 at the casino and was on his way to the cashier to redeem his voucher when Eugene snatched the voucher from his hand and ran away. But he didn't get far before the police caught him. Frank identified Eugene as the thief and told the cops he wanted to pursue it. But while making a statement, Frank clutched his chest and died of a heart attack. What type of homicide is this?If you said felony murder, you would be right. Felony murder does not require intent to kill. All it takes is one death that is a direct consequence of the crime, even if the death is natural or accidental. In this case, Frank's death is a direct result of Eugene robbing him. Remember, however, that it is up to the prosecutor to decide what the charges are. So while this may be felony murder, carrying the same penalties as first degree murder, it may be an excessive sentence given the situation. The prosecutor must treat each case differently and consider individual circumstances and the strength of the evidence before determining charges. What type of homicide 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 could not report him and hid the body in a nearby dump. What type of homicide is this? This is a pretty clear case of first degree murder. This shows that the crime was deliberate and deliberate. He kept her tied up and killed her so she couldn't report him, and he deliberately hid the body. This example is based on the case of Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. In 2005, she was a nine-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her home and 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 an extensive 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 in 2009 while awaiting his first appeal. What type of homicide is this? After a night of partying with summer friends, Ryan lent Alan his car and went home to bed. Alan and three others drove to Christine's house, where they stole a safe containing a pound of marijuana and $425. One of the robbers, Charles, used a shotgun he found in the house to bludgeon Christine to death. What type of homicide is this? For Alan, Charles and the two other men in the house who rob Christine, it is first degree murder. Since all the men were in the house when the crime was committed, they could all be charged under the murder rule, even though Charles was the only one who committed the murder. But what about Ryan? Would he be charged with homicide? Yes, the prosecutor also charged Ryan with murder and accused him of murder because Ryan knew his friends were planning the robbery, an allegation he denies. Furthermore, the prosecutor explained that there was no car, no murder. Additionally, the victim's father agreed: this would never have happened if Ryan Hall hadn't lent the car. It was as good as if he were there. This refers to the real-life case of Ryan Hall, who is currently serving a life sentence at a correctional facility in Wakulla, southwest of Tallahassee. For more information about his case, click on the photo to hyperlink to a New York Times article. This case highlights the power of the prosecutor and the discretion they have in determining who to charge and what to charge them with. And one more example. What type of homicide is this? Joe saw two men in front of his neighbor's house. He thought they were trying to rob the house. Joe called 911, but he also went to get his shotgun. The 911 operator told Joe to wait for the police and not to confront the men. Joe decided that the police.