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Fundamentals of criminal law
June 22, 2017
Dr. Chiotti
Nowadays the terms homicide and murder tend to be used interchangeably when spoken on the news. Many times, it is just to grab the readers or the people watching’s attention. Although the definitions of both are similar, there are some differences that separate the two. The definition of homicide is the killing of one human being by another human being. This is not always considered a crime, and can be considered legal, an example of this is a justifiable killing of a suspect by the police or self-defense killing. These homicides are called justifiable and excusable homicides. Also, unlawful and unjustifiable, also called criminal, homicides are classified as …show more content…
In such cases, the homicide will not be considered a criminal act. A justifiable homicide is authorized by the laws in a society. For example, in a time of war a soldier can be commanded to kill the enemy. Killings such as these are considered justifiable, unless other circumstances arise suggesting that they were not necessary or that they were not within the soldiers' duty such as killing civilians. Additionally, public officials are justified in carrying out death sentences because the execution is commanded by state or federal …show more content…
Finally, law enforcement officers may use deadly force to stop or apprehend a fleeing criminal if the suspect is armed or has committed a crime that involves the infliction of serious injury or death. Murder is the type of criminal homicide that is heard about the most. In simple terms, it is homicide with prior thought and malice. Murder is premeditated knowing what one is going to do. Therefore, being charged with murder, one in not only convicted with a homicide charge. but also with the intent of killing an individual. It is this intent to kill that makes a murder a heinous crime.
Murder is classified into three separate distinctions. Murder of the first degree is both premeditated and deliberate and considered the most serious form of murder. Someone took the time to not only plan the act, but also went ahead and committed the act. Second degree murder is deliberate but not premediated, for example, a person becomes angry, walks over to where he keeps a firearm for his protection, takes out the gun and shoots another person, that is classifiable as second-degree murder because there was no plan or advanced decision to
Fundamentals of criminal law
June 22, 2017
Dr. Chiotti
Nowadays the terms homicide and murder tend to be used interchangeably when spoken on the news. Many times, it is just to grab the readers or the people watching’s attention. Although the definitions of both are similar, there are some differences that separate the two. The definition of homicide is the killing of one human being by another human being. This is not always considered a crime, and can be considered legal, an example of this is a justifiable killing of a suspect by the police or self-defense killing. These homicides are called justifiable and excusable homicides. Also, unlawful and unjustifiable, also called criminal, homicides are classified as …show more content…
In such cases, the homicide will not be considered a criminal act. A justifiable homicide is authorized by the laws in a society. For example, in a time of war a soldier can be commanded to kill the enemy. Killings such as these are considered justifiable, unless other circumstances arise suggesting that they were not necessary or that they were not within the soldiers' duty such as killing civilians. Additionally, public officials are justified in carrying out death sentences because the execution is commanded by state or federal …show more content…
Finally, law enforcement officers may use deadly force to stop or apprehend a fleeing criminal if the suspect is armed or has committed a crime that involves the infliction of serious injury or death. Murder is the type of criminal homicide that is heard about the most. In simple terms, it is homicide with prior thought and malice. Murder is premeditated knowing what one is going to do. Therefore, being charged with murder, one in not only convicted with a homicide charge. but also with the intent of killing an individual. It is this intent to kill that makes a murder a heinous crime.
Murder is classified into three separate distinctions. Murder of the first degree is both premeditated and deliberate and considered the most serious form of murder. Someone took the time to not only plan the act, but also went ahead and committed the act. Second degree murder is deliberate but not premediated, for example, a person becomes angry, walks over to where he keeps a firearm for his protection, takes out the gun and shoots another person, that is classifiable as second-degree murder because there was no plan or advanced decision to