Homicide

Homicide is a generic term meaning the killing of a human being. All homicide shares this basic criminal act. But the penalties for various kinds of homicide vary greatly depending on many other circumstances, such as the mental state of the perpetrator and the method with which the killing is carried out.

Capitol Murder – This is the killing of a human being accompanied by one or more statutorily defined characteristics that warrant the defendant’s being put to death. These circumstances vary from state to state. They might include some of the following:

Typically, capitol murder statutes require a death-qualified jury to weigh a list of “aggravating” circumstances against a list of “mitigating” circumstances in deciding whether a person should be put to death. In Georgia, the aggravating circumstances justifying the death penalty are as follows:

Malice Murder – Generally this refers to “premeditated murder” or it means the intent to kill another with malice aforethought, or premeditation. Premeditation merely means one “thought about it first.” This premeditation does not mean that the killer sat around pondering the killing and planning it out: premeditation can be formed “in an instant.”

Georgia Statute – OCGA 16-5-1: a) A person commits the offense of murder when he unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied, causes the death of another human being.

b) Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof . Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.

Felony Murder – Felony murder is a killing that occurs in the course of a dangerous felony. Felony murder statutes generally do not require that he person charged commit the actual killing, or even that the person charged intend a death to occur; only that the person charged participated in a dangerous felony that resulted in the death of a person.

Dangerous felonies are either those crimes that are inherently dangerous, such as armed robbery or assault, or drug crimes.

Georgia Statute: OCGA 16-5-1: c) A person also commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.

Punishment: death or imprisonment for life.

Manslaughter – Manslaughter is either:

(a) a killing committed without premeditation but with a wanton and depraved state of mind; or

b) a killing that occurs through criminal recklessness, i.e., a conscious disregard for the possibility that a death might result from one’s conduct.

Voluntary Manslaughter – This generally refers to a killing that occurs under heat of passion after extreme provocation and before an adequate opportunity to cool off. The evidence must demonstrate extreme passion caused by extreme provocation, such as discovering a spouse with a lover, mutual combat, or assault on a loved one.

Georgia Statute: OCGA 16-5-2 -- Voluntary manslaughter --

(a) A person commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter when he causes the death of another human being under circumstances which would otherwise be murder and if he acts solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person; however, if there should have been an interval between the provocation and the killing sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, of which the jury in all cases shall be the judge, the killing shall be attributed to deliberate revenge and be punished as murder.

(b) A person who commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years.

Involuntary Manslaughter – This is a killing that occurs through criminal recklessness, i.e., a conscious disregard for the possibility that a death might result from one’s conduct.

Georgia Statute: OCGA § 16-5-3. Involuntary manslaughter –

(a) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony.

A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years.

(b) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so, by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as for a misdemeanor.

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Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 872-0303
Fax: (404) 872-0606

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