Full access allows:
- Solve all tests online without limits;
- Remove all advertisements on website;
- Adding questions to favorite list;
- Save learning progress;
- Save results of practice exams;
- Watching all wrong answered questions.
5. The most serious degree of criminal homicide the defendant is guilty of is
At 2 a.m., the defendant held up an all-night liquor store using an assault rifle. During the holdup, two police cars with flashing lights drove up in front of the store. In order to create a situation where the police would hesitate to come into the store (and thus give the defendant a chance to escape out the back), the defendant fired several rounds through the front window of the store. The defendant then ran out the back, but upon discovering another police car there, surrendered quietly. One of the shots he fired while in the store struck and killed a burglar who was stealing items from a closed store across the street.
A statute in the jurisdiction defines murder in the first degree as knowingly killing another person after deliberation. Deliberation is defined as «cool reflection for any length of time no matter how brief.» Murder in the second degree is defined as «all other murder at common law except felony-murder.» Felony-murder is murder in the third degree. Manslaughter is defined by the common law.
Comments (0)
There are no comments at the moment. If you found an error or think question is incorrect, tell everyone about it
Only signed in users can write comments
Signin
Murder, as defined by common law, (in this question, murder in the second degree), is the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. Malice 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: intent to kill, intent to inflict great bodily harm or depraved/malignant heart (a killing committed with reckless indifference to an unjustified risk of human life).
Felony murder is a killing that occurs during the attempt or commission of certain felonies, such as burglary, robbery, rape, arson, and kidnapping. The state statute in this question felony murder as murder in the third degree, and as such, is a less serious degree of homicide than premeditated murder or common law murder.
Finally, manslaughter, as defined by common law, is a killing committed with criminal negligence or during the commission of an unlawful act. The term «reckless» essentially describes a defendant's simultaneous understanding and disregard of a substantial risk of harm. Manslaughter is less serious than the above-mentioned forms of homicide.
B is correct. Here, the defendant committed murder in the second degree, or common law murder. He committed an unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought (with reckless indifference to an unjustified risk of human life). The defendant's firing of an assault rifle through the front window of the store, especially knowing there were people outside, shows the defendant's reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life. This satisfies the malice aforethought requirement for second degree murder under the state statute.
A is incorrect. The statute defines murder in the first degree as «knowingly» killing another person after deliberation. Here, the facts do not support that the defendant «knowingly» killed another person after deliberation. Rather, the facts suggest that the defendant lacked the specific intent to kill or to do great bodily harm to anyone because he was not aware the burglar existed.
C is incorrect. The question asks for the most serious degree or criminal homicide. Although the defendant likely did commit murder in the third degree (felony murder), that is not the most serious degree of criminal homicide the defendant is guilty of committing. As discussed above, the defendant committed second degree murder, which is more serious than felony murder.
D is incorrect. The question asks for the most serious degree or criminal homicide. As discussed above, the defendant is guilty of murder in the second degree and because this is the more serious criminal homicide, manslaughter is incorrect.