“HOMICIDE, n. The slaying of one human being by another. There are four kinds of homocide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy, but it makes no great difference to the person slain whether he fell by one kind or another --the classification is for advantage of the lawyers.” - Ambrose Bierce, the Devil's Dictionary
In assessing punishment in a murder case, the law acknowledges varying grades of culpability. A person who plots and plans a murder is punished for a more serious felony than when a death occurs in sudden passion.
Similarly, a person commits the offense of manslaughter if he recklessly - not intentionally - causes the death of another person. A person acts recklessly when he is aware but consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk. This is different than when a person demonstrates an intentional, deliberate, and conscious desire to cause a death.
This is the central distinction between murder and manslaughter. |
