Also how do the degrees work? This is purely to settle a debate over if I was HYPOTHETICALLY killed over some MC loot which would it be.
In: Other
Intent + Premeditate = 1
Intent + no premeditate = 2
no intent = 3 (manslaughter)
I think..
The difference between Manslaughter and Murder is largely one of intent.
A simple example – You were at a bar when you got into an altercation with another person. During the shoving match, you shoved them hard enough that they fell backwards and cracked their skull on the bar killing them.
You didn’t *mean* to kill them… but you did kill them. This would most likely be considered manslaughter.
Murder requires *intent* to do so, whether that intent is in the moment or planned out. Which is where the degrees come in.
First Degree Murder is also called premeditated murder. You set out to kill someone, you planned out the actions you would take, and then you did those actions.
Second Degree Murder is also called a crime of passion. You didn’t wake up intending to kill someone but when you walked in on them having sex with your partner you saw red, lost control and by the time you stopped they were dead.
Third Degree Murder is the most vague. It’s basically the line between manslaughter and murder. You were engaged in an activity that was intended to cause harm, or had the potential to cause harm that you knew about, but not necessarily intending to kill someone. Common examples include reckless driving, selling someone illegal drugs that result in an overdose, or similar type behaviors.
Murder means you had intent, and possibly planned to kill in advance.
Manslaughter means you killed someone, but not intentionally. If I gave you a peanut butter cookie, and you died from a peanut allergy, I clearly killed you, but didn’t mean to do it.
That’s manslaughter.
Every jurisdiction defines these terms different with their own particular nuances.
In general however, murder is when you:
1. cause someone’s death unlawfully; and
2. intend to kill someone.
Manslaughter is when you:
1. cause someone’s death unlawfully; but
2. do not intend to kill someone.
The difference is the intent to kill.
EDIT:
As for the degrees, that also depends on the jurisdiction. In Canada, first degree murder is if the Crown can prove planning and deliberation. Also, there are some other forms of murder which elevate to 1st degree, even without planning and deliberation, such as:
* murdering a police officer on duty
* murdering while committing certain crimes (e.g. while kidnapping or during a sexual assault)
* murder for hire
* murder from terrorism
* murder as a part of a criminal organization
Second degree murder is any murder which is not first degree murder, or in other words, it when the Crown can prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt, but cannot prove planning and deliberation beyond reasonable doubt or any of the other facts.
Depends on where you are. In fact, some states call manslaughter “third degree murder.” So in some sense, legally, there may not even be a difference between murder and manslaughter.
What you’re really seeing is that there are different levels of murder. Manslaughter is the lowest. Manslaughter usually means that you killed somebody by something like:
– doing something really stupid and reckless (you fired a gun in the air and the bullet came back down and killed someone, you drove drunk, etc). You didn’t kill them on purpose, but you did the stupid thing on purpose.
– you gave someone bad drugs and they OD’d.
– you were texting while driving.
– you told your migrant employees that they had to work in the sun and they died of heat stroke.
There’s also (in some states) the concept of *voluntary* manslaughter, which is usually some kind of excessive force. You did mean to do violence, but things just kind of got out of hand. It’s a step worse than regular manslaughter. You:
– shot someone in self-defense but you weren’t actually in danger.
– got into a bar fight and escalated it badly.
– walked in on your wife having sex with another man and shot him dead
so manslaughter is like an accident but murder is planned out. degrees depend on intention and how it went down. if you got killed over mc loot that could get messy lol
Eli 5 : manslaughter when you’re like driving and on your phone and run someone over. Murder when you wait in your car and then run someone over when come out of their house.
One is not intended, the other is planned.
The more planned, the higher the degree, but the degree of planning is a matter for the courts and what evidence they have.
Like if the hypothetical guy wrote a reddit post on how he’s gonna come and kill you and then does, that’s murder. If he just writes I’m gonna go talk to him and get my loot back, but then kills you because you argued and shit got heated and he stabbed you, it can be argued like second degree. If he came and you had an argument and there was just pushing and you fell and hit your head and died, maybe manslaughter.
But the actual charges depend on the prosecutor and the evidence and whether they think they can convince the jury of it. For example if he pushed you and you hit your head and died, they could charge you for murder. Or they could just go for manslaughter.
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