What's The Difference Between First-Degree Murder Or Second-Degree Murder?

In common law murder had one classification, and a majority of states have divided murder into degrees, which include first and second-degree murder (Hall, 2015). First-degree murder is the most severe crime and for a murder to be classified as first-degree there must be proof that the homicide was willful, deliberate, and premeditated (Hall, 2015). To truly understand the difference between first-degree murder and second-degree murder we must identify the legal definitions of willful, deliberate, and premeditated beginning with willful. Willful is legally defined by the defendant had the intention to cause death (Hall, 2015). Next, deliberate refers to the defendant’s mental state, which means he or she possessed a cool mind and did not