In the US there are 4 types of murder 1st degree is pre-meditated, 2nd degree is not pre-meditated, 3rd is neglect(such as a drunk driver) and 4th degree is Lawful such as defience of one`s home, family or self. There is also special circumstances such as using ammo that is deamed more likely to kill ,such as wad cutters, sluggers or poisened loads. Property is not a defience for killing ,nor is outside your home(castle defience). You must be in fear of your life and that fear must be backed up by the perps ability to carely out some danger to your life or limb. A fake gun believed at the time to be a real gun would work ,or a cutting devise that could be used and was consieved at the time to be a real threat to your life,ect. I did go to college/ law school ,just never took the State Bar test.
Thats what I was saying, remember this quote I said "Somebody jumps my fence and is taking plants from my backyard, I yell at him to leave, he pulls a gun on me". Now I have the right to shoot or shoot at him because I am in fear of my life and he is on my property, I never said somebody jumps my fence then I shoot them in the back, that is obviously murder. I never went to law school and I'm sure you know more then me about the law, but I am very familier with gun laws. Granted every State has there own gun laws, but when it comes to killing somebody, there all very closely related. Check this out, I just wanted to show the difference between
murder, manslaughter and
justifiable homicide.
Sorry to everyone for changing the subject, I just wanted to show ya'll that not every killing is murder.
First degree murder is any murder that is willful and premeditated.
Felony murder is typically first degree.
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Second degree murder is a murder that is not premeditated or planned in advance.
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Voluntary manslaughter sometimes called a "Heat of Passion" murder, is any intentional killing that involved no prior intent to kill, and which was committed under such circumstances that would "cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed." Both this and second degree murder are committed on the spot, but the two differ in the magnitude of the circumstances surrounding the crime. For example, a bar fight that results in death would ordinarily constitute second degree murder. If that same bar fight stemmed from a discovery of infidelity, however, it may be mitigated to voluntary manslaughter.
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Involuntary manslaughter stems from a lack of intention to cause death but involving an intentional, or negligent, act leading to death. A drunk driving-related death is typically involuntary manslaughter. Note that the "unintentional" element here refers to the lack of intent to bring about the death. All three crimes above feature an intent to kill, whereas involuntary manslaughter is "unintentional," because the killer did not intend for a death to result from his intentional actions. If there is a presence of intention it relates only to the intent to cause a violent act which brings about the death, but not an intention to bring about the death itself.
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Modern codifications tend to create a genus of offenses, known collectively as
homicide, of which
murder is the most serious species, followed by
manslaughter which is less serious, and ending finally in
justifiable homicide, which is not a crime at all. Because there are 53 jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this section treats only the crime of murder, and does not deal with state-by-state specifics.