What is homicide and what are homicide crimes? Homicide has been defined as the taking of the life of one human being by another. Homicide offenses vary depending on the degree of the offense, the penalties, and the location in which the offense was committed. These offenses include: first degree murder, second degree murder, felony, justifiable and excusable homicide. These are some of the main topics and can be divided into subcategories within and between them. Some of the earliest recorded cases of murder date back to the 12th century, at the King's Bench or Queen's Court in England; we will discuss some of the earliest establishments of these laws and/or cases in history. Many states today classify murder into two degrees: first and second, but others have even more degrees based on motive, intent, or timing. Although England established a set of criteria for defining degrees of murder, the Pennsylvania court, in the Act of Assembly of 1794, declared: "Any murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or pending , or by any other means any type of willful, deliberate or premeditated murder or which will be committed during the commission or attempt to perpetrate arson, rape, theft or burglary, will be considered murder in the first degree ; and all other kinds of murder will be second degree murder. (Loewy, 2009, p. 20). By defining first-degree murder as arson, rape, robbery or burglary, only these offenses would be punishable by death. The second degree would not carry the death penalty and would only result in prison time. Maitland & Pollock (2012), “The word crime derived from the Latin word felo, fell, gall – the word for venom. » When it comes to "criminal", it initially seems to mean cruel,...... middle of paper ......nses against the person-homicidal. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co. First Degree Murder. (2002). In World of Criminal Justice, Gale. Retrieved from http://proxy01.hopkinsville.kctcs.edu/login?qurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.credoreference.com/entry/worldcrims/first_degree_murder.Green, TA "The Jury and the English Law of Homicide , 1200 -1600.". Ann Arbor, MI: Mich. L.Rev. 74 (1976): 413-499. Dodd, Mead & Company. (1910). Relativity. In The New International Encyclopedia. (Vol. 10, p. 173). Cambridge, USA: International Encyclopedia. Rood, J. A. (1906). A summary of important cases: Offenses against the person. St. Louis, MO: Wahr. Loewy, A.H. (2009). Criminal law: cases and materials: Homicide. (3rd ed.). Dayton, OH: Thomas/West. Pollock, F. and Maitland, F.W. (2012). The history of English law before the time of Edward I: crimes and misdemeanors. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund.