The murder took place during the course of another serious felony being committed. (Unlike felony murder, only the killer who personally committed the murder can be charged with capital murder.)
The victim was tortured before the murder.
The person murdered was a government official, a police officer, or a witness in a criminal or civil trial.
In addition to requiring aggravating circumstances, many states also require the prosecutor to show deliberation by the defendant — meaning that he thought about his actions before committing them. Many states also require the prosecutor to prove there’s a likelihood that the killer will commit future acts of violence.
U.S. Supreme Court rulings have required that during a capital murder trial, the defendant be given the chance to present evidence to persuade the jury that he should not be sentenced to death. Such evidence can include the following:
Proof that he was raised by negligent parents
Proof that he has no previous history of violence
Proof of the positive contributions he has made to society
Manslaughter
Manslaughter refers to the non-intentional killing of another person, but the killer still has some moral responsibility for the death. For example, a severely intoxicated driver who runs a red light while talking on his cellphone probably doesn’t intend to crash his car and kill his passenger. But the state can still call his conduct reckless, which justifies a manslaughter charge. (See Chapter 2 for an explanation of the difference between intentional and reckless conduct.)
Often in a homicide in which the intent to kill is difficult to prove, prosecutors choose to negotiate a guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter. A sentence for manslaughter typically ranges from 1 to 15 years.
As you may have guessed, manslaughter appears very similar to second-degree murder. In fact, they’re essentially the same. Some states have first- and second-degree murder, and some states have murder and manslaughter.
Negligent homicide
In criminal law, a person who engages in negligent conduct is considered less responsible than someone who is reckless. (In case you ever want to go to law school, know that conduct is negligent if the actor should’ve been aware of a substantial risk of doing harm. Conduct is reckless if the actor was aware of the substantial risk of doing harm but chose to engage in the activity anyway.) However, in some states, even negligently causing someone’s death can result in a charge of negligent homicide. For example, an intoxicated driver who is not talking on his cellphone and who does not run a red light can still be charged with negligent homicide if he crashes his car and kills his passenger.
A sentence for negligent homicide may range from probation to five years in prison.
Assisting a suicide
Technically, suicide isn’t a homicide because it doesn’t involve the killing of another human being. However, in many countries (such as India), attempted suicide is a crime. (I’m not aware of any states in the United States that punish attempted suicide.)
In the United States, helping another person commit suicide — an act known as euthanasia — can be punished as homicide. Most famously, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who claimed to have assisted 130 people in committing suicide, was convicted of second-degree murder in Michigan and served eight years in prison before being paroled in 2007.
Attacking or Threatening Someone: Assault and Battery
Although the words assault and battery are often used interchangeably, in many states, they mean two different things:
Battery: This crime requires actual physical contact that is offensive in some way.
Assault: This crime typically refers to just a threat of battery, or an attempted battery, without actual physical contact. However, in states that don’t use the word “battery,” an assault may mean actual physical contact that’s offensive or causes injury. In other words, in those states, assault is the same thing as battery.
For example, if you pull out a gun and tell someone you’re going to shoot him, you’re committing an assault (among other offenses). If you actually shoot the person without killing him, you’re committing a battery.
Simple assault or battery refers to conduct that results in low-level physical injury, not serious injury. It’s typically punished as a misdemeanor with only a little jail time.
Aggravated assault or battery refers to serious felony conduct that involves the use of a dangerous or deadly weapon or that results in serious injury. Aggravated assault or battery may result in a lengthy prison sentence of one to ten years (or even more, depending on the circumstances).
The types of conduct that can result in a criminal charge of battery (or assault) are almost limitless, but here are a few examples:
Punching or slapping
Stabbing
Shooting
Using any object as a weapon to cause an injury
Crashing a vehicle
I once prosecuted someone who repeatedly kicked another person using steel-toed boots. I charged the defendant with battery with a “dangerous weapon,” a charge that resulted in a longer sentence than the defendant would’ve received for wearing slippers (for which he would only get a simple battery charge).
In the following sections, I discuss the major crimes involving assault and battery.
Vehicular assault
Car crashes are the most common means of violent death or serious physical injury in the United States. One person dies every 50 minutes. Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) have helped elevate society’s awareness of the damage that can be done by a speeding, three-ton pile of metal. As a consequence, many states have created offenses, such as vehicular assault, that criminalize dangerous driving that results in injury. However, just crashing a car and injuring someone isn’t enough to constitute a crime. In most states, the driver must have driven recklessly to warrant