FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
What is homicide? Is homicide a crime? When and how?
o A homicide is the killing of a human being by another without any
... [Show More] particular attribution
ofblame for motive.
o It wasn’t a crime till after the 14th century
o Single homicide is 90% of all homicides
o Serial Homicide is killing in a sequence of at least 3 victims over an extended period of time
o Mass homicide is multiple killings in a single time or place with 4 or more victims
Know the different classifications of homicide, murder, and manslaughter.
o Vehicular homicide: the killing of one person by another through criminal negligence during
the operation of a motor vehicle.
o Ex. Racing home from a party, a woman tries to beat a red light at an intersection and runs
over an elderly pedestrian, killing him. Note that there is no intention to kill or harm anyone
with the vehicle
o Justifiable Homicide: killing that has legal justification
Ex. After giving fair warning to back off and leave, a homeowner uses a lawfully
owned firarm to shoot an intruder who persists in threatening the homeowner’s
family, (trespassing on someone’s property in combination with harmful situation to
homeowner)
Officer involved shootings
o Excusable Homicide: a completely accidental or unintentional killing without blame or fault
on the part of the killer
Ex. Despite clearly posted warning signs and barriers, some truant school kids
manage to scale a fence and trespass onto a construction site, and one of them is
electrocuted by an exposed cable.
Ex. Killing of a child while driving and not seeing the child
o Murder “the crime of unlawfully killing a person, especially with malice aforethought” To
kill someone without justification or reason.
First degree murder: (killing that is willful, deliberate, and PREMEDITATED-
“malice a fore though”, legal term). It is carried out with full knowledge and
intention of the act.
- Ex: a cheated-upon husband lies in wait for his wife and her lover to return
home, then leaps from the closet and stabs them both to death.
Second degree murder: killing that is malicious, but without pre- meditation, or
necessarily with intent to kill. happened in a fast event, did not have time to plan
- Ex. A robber holds up a convenience store, grapples with the counter clerk,
and in the struggle, shoots the clerk to death, later claiming “I didn’t mean to
hurt anybody, he should have just given me the money.
o Manslaughter: “…. unlawful killing of a human being without expressed or implied malice.”
Voluntary Manslaughter: killing that takes place in the “heat of anger”, and is NOT
premeditated or committed wi [Show Less]