12. The most serious crime for which the defendant can properly be convicted is

This jurisdiction defines first degree murder as: (i) an intentional and premeditated killing; or (ii) one occurring during the commission of a common law felony. Felony murder is a killing committed during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony such as robbery, burglary, arson, rape, and kidnapping. The intent required for a felony murder conviction is the intent necessary to commit the underlying felony. The underlying felony for felony murder cannot itself be a killing.

The statute also states that murder in the second degree is all other murder at common law. Essentially, in this case, second degree murder is common law murder. Murder, under common law, is an unlawful killing committed with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought refers to the mens rea required for a murder conviction. Malice aforethought arises when the defendant commits the unlawful killing with one of the following mental states: (i) intent to kill; (ii) intent to inflict great bodily harm; (iii) depraved/malignant heart (a killing committed with reckless indifference to an unjustified risk of human life); or (iv) felony murder.

Manslaughter is defined as a killing in the heat of passion upon an adequate legal provocation or a killing caused by gross negligence. Gross negligence refers to a defendant's simultaneous understanding and disregard of a substantial risk of harm. Manslaughter is a lesser degree of homicide than second degree or first degree murder.

B is correct. Here, the defendant pointing a loaded weapon at the victim and pulled the trigger. This posed a great threat of serious bodily injury to the victim, and, because it resulted in the victim's death, the defendant should be convicted of murder in the second degree. Murder in the second degree, as discussed above, is murder with malice aforethought, done without premeditation and deliberation. The defendant's actions were done with reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life and will support a finding of malice aforethought.

A is incorrect. Here, the defendant cannot be convicted of first degree murder because there is no evidence that the defendant intended to kill the victim. The statute defines first degree murder as the premeditated and intentional killing of another, and because the defendant cannot be said to have intended to kill the victim, she will not be convicted of murder in the first degree. Further, the underlying felony for felony murder cannot itself be a killing. This answer is incorrect because the underlying felony in a felony murder charge must be sufficiently independent of the actual killing. Here, the underlying felony of assault with a deadly weapon would merge into the homicide charge and would not be independent enough to allow for a proper felony murder charge. The defendant cannot be properly convicted of first degree murder under either a «premeditation and deliberation» theory to first degree murder, or under a «felony murder» theory to first degree murder.

C is incorrect. As discussed above, manslaughter is not the most serious crime for which the defendant can properly be convicted. Here, the defendant pointed a loaded weapon at the victim and pulled the trigger; this was beyond mere negligence, as required by manslaughter. The killing of the victim, in this case, was done with malice aforethought because it was done with reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life. As such, the defendant should be convicted of murder in the second degree.

D is incorrect. A victim voluntarily agreeing to play the game and his assumption of risk are irrelevant to the determination of criminal responsibility. The most serious crime for which the defendant can be properly convicted is second degree murder. Accordingly, this answer is incorrect because the defendant can be held legally responsible for his actions regardless of the victim's consent.