Criminial Law-Murder
At the heart of mystery novels is homicide, sometimes referred to as murder. There are different degrees of murder. The premeditated, willful, and deliberate killing of another is murder one or capital murder.
In most jurisdictions, the person who kills while attempting to inflict serious bodily injury on another has shown sufficient malice to be guilty of murder. In those jurisdictions where murder is divided into different degrees, this type of murder is generally referred to as murder in the second degree. What principally distinguishes murder in the first degree from murder in the second degree is the premeditation that is part of the murder one offense.
Example: If Tony sets out to kill you, and then in fact does kill you (still with the intent to kill you), then that constitutes murder in the first degree. If, on the other hand, Tony kills you in the heat of an argument and there is no element of premeditation, then that may qualify as murder in the second degree. If Tony is simply negligent and as a result of that negligence you are killed, it may be negligent homicide.
Felony murder arises where any death results during the commission of a felony. A felony is a crime for which a person can be imprisoned for more than a year. A misdemeanor is a crime for which a person can be imprisoned for up to a year. Many jurisdictions make distinctions as to whether felony murder will be murder one or murder two depending upon the type of felony that is being committed.
A rule that applies in many jurisdictions is the so-called year and a day rule. Under this rule, a death cannot be attributed to the defendant’s wrongful conduct unless the death occurs within a year and a day of that conduct. So if the person died after a year and a day of the wrongful conduct, then the defendant could not be charged with murder.
