Homicide

This article is about the act of killing a human being. For other uses, see Homicide (disambiguation).

Homicide (Latin: homicidium, Latin: homo human being + Latin: caedere to cut, kill) refers to the act of a human killing another human.^[1] Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English. Homicide is not always a punishable act under the criminal law, and is different than a murder from such formal legal point of view.

Non-criminal homicide

Main article: Justifiable homicide

Homicide is the killing of one human by another. The killing of another, homicide, is not a crime unless the circumstances of a particular homicide fall within outlawed behavior. If a homicide is justified or excused, it is not a crime. One of the most recognized justifications is self defense, which provides, in part, that in certain circumstances a person is justified in killing another to protect his own life from a deadly attack.

At various places and times the following may have been considered justifications or excuses for homicide:

• Automatism—The defense of automatism holds that one who is unconscious or unaware of their behavior, for instance, someone walking in their sleep, does not have the capacity to commit a crime.
• Self-defense and defense of others—Complete defenses. For example of a very popular case on the subject read People v. Goetz.
• Defense of dwelling/habitation—Limited to an invader attempting to commit a felony or otherwise hurt someone inside the home, but in some jurisdictions applies to a person's car.
• Prevention of a crime—Permitted for "dangerous" felonies.^[2]
• Privilege of public authority — A person who has public authority to commit an act is not criminally liable.^[3]
• Insanity defense— There are several tests for legal insanity used in various U.S. states, the two most popular being the M'Naghten Rule and the Model Penal Code test.^[4]
  • M'Naghten Rules^[5]
  • Model Penal Code test—Also known as "substantial capacity"^[6]
  • Irresistible impulse test
  • Durham rule—Not widely used, New Hampshire being an exception. Also known as the "product test".
  • Diminished capacity - Not allowed in all jurisdictions; not comprehensive like the M'Naghten Rule and Model Penal Code tests.
• Defense of infancy^[7]— In some jurisdictions children under the age of 7 are conclusively presumed to be not guilty of criminal homicide, as are children under the age of 14 - but rebuttably so.
• Mistake of fact—This defense asserts that a mistake of fact will excuse a criminal charge if it is honestly entertained, based upon reasonable grounds and is of such a nature that the conduct would have been lawful had the facts been as they were supposed to be.
• Involuntary intoxication—If a person is drugged, and cannot control their behavior due to the properties of the drugging agent, this operates as a defense for the same reason as automatism.
• War—State v. Gut, 13 Minn. 341 (1868), a soldier killing an enemy in battle is usually not criminal, but in some circumstances may be. E.g., a soldier killing a non-combative prisoner of war.

Criminal homicide

Criminal homicide takes several forms and includes certain unintentional killings. The crime committed in a criminal homicide is determined by the state of mind of the defendant and statutes defining the crime. Murder, for example, is usually an intentional crime. In some jurisdictions, certain types of murders automatically qualify for capital punishment,^[8] but if the defendant in a capital case is sufficiently mentally retarded in the United States he may not be executed, for reasons described in Atkins v. Virginia, similar to those utilizing an insanity defense.

Varying by jurisdiction, a homicide that occurs during the commission of a felony may constitute murder regardless the felon's mental state with regard to the killing. This is known as the felony murder rule. Much abbreviatted and incomplete, the felony murder rule says that one committing a felony may be guilty of murder if someone, including the felony victim, a bystander or a co-felon, dies as a result of his acts, regardless his intent - or lack thereof - to kill.

Criminal homicides also include voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The mental state of the perpetrator of these crimes differs from that of one who commits murder.

Although suicide is not a form of homicide, assisting in another's suicide may constitute criminal homicide, as codified, for instance, in California Penal Code Sec. 401.^[9]

State-sanctioned homicide

Homicides may also be non-criminal when conducted with the sanction of the state. The most obvious examples are capital punishment, in which the state determines that a person should die. Some argue that, though abortion is the "killing" of unborn humans, it qualifies as a form of legal homicide. Homicides committed in action during war are usually not subject to criminal prosecution either. In addition, members of law enforcement entities are also allowed to commit justified homicides within certain parameters which, when met, do not usually result in prosecution; see deadly force.

See also

• Killology
• List of countries by homicide rate
• Murder book—A homicide case file
• Suicide—Killing of oneself
• Unlawful killing

References

1. ^ Irving, Shae, ed (2009). "homicide". Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary. Berkeley: Nolo. pp. 204–5. ISBN 978-1-4133-1037-5. http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/homicide-term.html. 
2. ^ "Cal. Pen. Code Section 833-851.90". State of California. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=833-851.90. Retrieved 8 December 2010. 
3. ^ "State v. Mantelli". Google Scholar, N.M. Ct. App.. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1439759509081800018&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr. Retrieved 8 December 2010. 
4. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/states.html
5. ^ "M'Naghten's Case". BAILII, United Kingdom, House of Lords. http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1843/J16.html. Retrieved 8 December 2010. 
6. ^ Lockey, Christopher. "The Evolution of the American Law Institute Test for Insanity in Oregon: Focus on Diagnosis". Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/35/3/325. Retrieved 8 December 2010. 
7. ^ Trowbridge, Brett. "The Child Incapacity Defense in Washington". Washington State Bar Association. http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/2000/jun-00-child.htm. Retrieved 8 December 2010. 
8. ^ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-laws-providing-death-penalty
9. ^ http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=369a-402c

External Links

• 2011 Global Study on Homicide