Criminal Law Murder and Manslaughter Attack Outline

• Actus reus


  The voluntary, affirmative act, or omission to act, that constitutes the physical movement of the body to a physical crime
• Mens rea


  The mental component of a crime, sometimes referred to as the guilty mind component of a crime, that a D must possess for conviction
• Concurrence


  The requirement that in every crime or public offense the actus reus and the mens rea must exist at the same time
• Causation


  A causal connection between the act or conduct and the result, a D must be the (1) cause in fact and (2) proximate cause of the resulting harm to be criminally liable
• Causation is an issue in all result offenses that criminalize the causing of a particular result rather than mere conduct
• Cause in fact (but for cause)


  D's conduct was the cause in fact of the result, which usually (but not always) means that but for the conduct the result would not have occurred
• Proximate Cause


  Proximate cause is where the act is directly connected with the resulting injury, with no intervening force operating it
• Criminal Homicide


  The unlawful killing of a human being, or a modernly fetus, by another human being without lawful justification or excuse
• Murder


  A criminal homicide with malice aforethought
• Express Malice


  Present when a D shows a deliberate intention to take away the life of a human, can be established through direct or circumstantial evidence
• Implied Malice


  Malice may be implied by the conscious and voluntary conduct of the D, conduct that is dangerous to human life in one of the following ways: IGBI, Depraved Heart Muder, Provocative Act Murder, and Felony Murder
• IGBI


  Malice may be implied if the defendant did not intend to kill but they did intent to inflict serious bodily injury
• Depraved Heart


  Malice may be implied if the D acted in a manner that was extremely dangerous to human life and the D was aware of the risk to human life, but consciously disregarded the risk
• Provocative Act Murder


  A D, with conscious disregard to human life, commits an act that provokes a deadly response, that is likely to cause death, and his V or police officer kills in a reasonable response to such act
• Felony Murder


  When an unintended killed is caused, during the commission or attempted commission of an inherently dangerous to human life felony (IDHL)
• Felonies traditionally IDHL


  • Burglary
  • Arson
  • Rape
  • Robbery
  • Kidnapping
• Felony Murder 1


  The D must (1) intend to commit an underlying specified felony, (2) the death occurs during the commission of the felony, and (3) there was a causal connection between the underlying felony and the death
• Continuous Transaction Rule FM


  If the underlying felony and death are part of one continuous transaction, then the felony murder rule is appliable
• Agency Jurisdiction (CA)


  The agency approach, which California follows, limits the application of felony murder to only those homicides committed or caused by D or his agent
• Proximate Cause Jurisdiction


  Liability attaches to the felon for any death because the death is a direct consequence of the felony, - even the death of a co-felon – notwithstanding the killing was by one resisting the crime
• Felony Murder 2


  The D must (1) Intend to commit the underlying felony that is deemed inherently dangerous to human life (IDHL) felony but is not listed in PC 189, (2) the death occurs during the commission of the felony, and (3) there was a causal connection between the underlying felony and the death
• Facts of the case

  The court will examine the manner in which the acts in question were committed based on the "facts of the case" to determine if they were inherently dangerous to human life
• Felony in the abstract (FM2)

  Without regard to the facts of the case, the court will look only at the statutory elements of the underlying felony to determine if it was inherently dangerous to human life
• Merger FM2


  If the underlying felony merges with the homicide, there is no felony murder
• If yes (to implied malice), further analysis is warranted to determine the degree of murder
• If no malice, then you'll move to manslaughter
• 1st Degree Murder


  Criminal homicide with malice aforethought committed in one of the following ways: (1) Willful, deliberate and premeditated, (2) Felony murder, (3) Torture murder, (4) Lying in wait murder, (5) Murder by poison, (6) drive by shooting, (7) Explosives or armor penetrating ammunition
• Willful, deliberate, and premeditated


  The D planned the killing beforehand (premeditated) and the plan for the killing was formed or arrived at as a result of careful though and weighing of consideration for or against the proposed cause of action (deliberate)
• 2nd Degree Murder


  A homicide committed during the perpetration of a felony not listed in PC 189, but that is dangerous to human life and does not merge, can be committed in the following ways: 1. Intent to kill murder with malice aforethought, 2. Implied malice murder, 3. Provocative act murder, and 4. Felony murder 2
• Deliberate


  Formed or arrived at as a result of careful thought and weighing of consideration for or against the proposed cause of action
• Evidence of deliberation


  • Direct evidence, such as a confession by the accused
  • Circumstantial evidence, if there is a pre-existing motive, planning activity and/or the manner of the killing (only need one of these)
• Felony Murder (FM)


  An unintended killed is caused, during the commission or attempted commission of an inherently dangerous to human life felony (IDHL). A defendant may be guilty of FM even if they didn't intent to kill, but malice is implied by their intent to commit the underlying felony.
• Crimes that may be classified as first-degree murder

  • Lying in wait
  • Torture
  • Bombing
  • Terrorism
  • Poisoning
• Second Degree Murder


  A homicide committed during the perpetration of a felony not listed in PC 189, but that is dangerous to human life and does not merge, can be committed in the following ways: 1. Intent to kill murder without premeditation and deliberation, 2. Provocation sufficient to lower first degree intent to kill murder to second degree murder or manslaughter, 3. Depraved heart murder, and 4. Second-degree felony murder.
• Intent to kill murder without premeditation and deliberation


  Killing is typically an immediate reaction to something the victim said or did.
• Provocation sufficient to lower first degree intent to kill murder to second degree murder or manslaughter

  Intent to kill murder offers evidence that the victim provoked the defendant. Provocation may reduce murder from 1st degree to 2nd degree. Provocation sometimes lowers 2nd degree to manslaughter.
• Depraved heart murder


  Malice may be implied if the defendant acted in a manner that was extremely dangerous to human life and the defendant was aware of the risk to human life, but consciously disregarded the risk.
• Second degree felony murder

  The defendant must (1) Intend to commit the underlying felony that is deemed inherently dangerous to human life (IDHL) felony but is not listed in PC 189. (2) The death occurs during the commission of the felony, and (3) there was a causal connection between the underlying felony and the death. To determine if the underlying felony was IDHL, there are two ways, (1) facts of the case, (how the felony was committed) or (2) felony in the abstract, which looks at the elements of a crime. CA follows the felony in the abstract approach.
• Manslaughter


  The unlawful killing of a human being, or fetus, by another human being without malice. Modernly, there are three types: Voluntary, Involuntary, and vehicular manslaughter.
• Voluntary Manslaughter


  Criminal homicide without malice is considered less severe than first- or second-degree murder due to mitigating circumstances. There are four types: (1) intentional killing in the heat of passion provocation on adequate provocation (2) unintentional killing with conscious disregard for the danger to human life and knowledge that the conduct endangers the life of another on a sudden quarrel or the heat of passion. (3) intentional killing in imperfect self-defense (honest but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense (4) unintentionally killing by imperfect self-defense but with conscious disregard for human life.