Malice aforethought

For one to even start deluding themselves into believing ‘murder is murder,’ one would have to define murder in a way that passes common approval, in this case, the killing of ‘a’ human being. The ‘a’ in that definition implies any number of people killed, which exposes the flaws in the argument of ‘murder is murder.’ By not specifying the number of people killed, an accident such as a flowerpot tumbling from an apartment windowsill that kills an unfortunate passerby, which would normally be considered second-degree manslaughter at best, would instead coincide in the same seriousness as a mass killing of an entire nation. Simplifying not just murder, but all crimes, as simply one charge instead of degrees would cause ridiculousness such as this, and would make the justice system bound by actus reus, with mens rea not being taken into consideration, unlike a fair system in which both are the basis of identifying crimes and punishing perpetrators accordingly. To only accept actus reus, and remove degrees of crime, would be to throw out any system of logic in law. To apply this logic to any other concept shows its failures, with an example being a simple substitution of ‘murder is murder’ for television is television. Without degrees of television, anything that appears on television would be defined as television, which would cause legal confusion, considering that any movie (made-for-TV or otherwise), advertisement, or made-for-television programming would be defined as…

Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice. There are two degrees of murder. First-degree murder is perpetrated by murder, kidnapping, poisoning, arson, and much more. Any other murder is second degree. Second-degree murder is an intentional killing that has not been done before or planned, not committed in a reasonable “heat of passion.” And upon each murder, is a fine or punishment of different severities. Anyone who is guilty of murder in the first degree is…

We must first understand that homicide can be both the lawful and unlawful killing of another human being. Examples of lawful killings can be during times of war, for capital punishment and for self-defence. These types of killings are not considered to be an offence in the eyes of the law. However, if the killing is unlawful then it can either be murder, or manslaughter depending of the facts of the case. Murder is ‘the killing of any person in the peace of the commonwealth, with malice…

In this case of The State of Western Australia v Mulley, it involves a dead body, therefore the offence of homicide is considered. Under s277 it defines homicide to be “any person who unlawfully kills another is guilty of a crime which, according to the circumstances of the case, may be murder or manslaughter”. The offence of murder is established under this section of homicide, therefore this case can be tried under the offence of murder. For the offence of murder to be enacted, three elements…

The definition of murder seen from a criminal law approach will be the unlawful killing of another human being without justification or valid excuse and with malice afterthought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. However, murder is a term that can be interpreted differently depending on the different perspectives and opinions that society has. Murder has and will always be a very difficult…

rate than other US cities including New York and Washington DC, cities known for high crime rates. Between the years of 1990 and 1998, police in Detroit had nearly ten fatal encounters per year, a high statistic with less than one million people residing in the city. Detroit became known for having a violent police force during the 1960s and 1970s, especially against minority youth. This trend held steady during the 1980s and 1990s. One of the most publicized cases was that of 35 year old…

the table, reveals the dancing is viewed feminine in this mining town. Tony’s contempt and Billy’s outburst shown in the close-up shots and dialogue when Billy states “I don’t want a childhood, I want to be ballet dancer”, which conveys his realisation of his passion for dancing and the disapproval from his family. The overlapping sound and images create a disorientating effect upon the audience, reflecting Billy’s anger and oppression. Billy’s outburst with the sense of oppression and running…

Second-degree murder may best be viewed as the middle ground between 1st. Degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. The difference in 1st and 2nd degree murder is 1st degree deals with: premeditation, malice aforethought, and accidental deaths caused by crimes. second degree murder deals with 3 main topics: impulsive killings with malice aforethought, killings after an act intended to cause serious bodily harm, and killings resulting from a depraved indifference to human life. A unnamed…

First degree murder is the killing of another with malice aforethought by poison, torture, lying in wait, or during a felony act. Second degree murder involves all other types of murder that cannot be classified as first degree murder. Manslaughter is homicide without malice aforethought. Voluntary manslaughters is a killing of another person, in response to heated situation. The elements of provocation are: the provocation must have been such, that a reasonable person would have acted…

Did Terry deliberately with malice aforethought murder William? Prosecution can attempt to establish malice aforethought or premeditation by introducing facts and circumstances related to Terry’s state of mind, such as the defendant’s relationship with the victim, nature of the homicide, defendant’s actions before and after the homicide. The fact that the three boys had planned in advance to intimidate and make violent threats against William could show premeditation. The nature of the murder…