Everything about Manslaughter totally explained
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human in a manner considered by law as less culpable than
murder.
The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the
mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of
homicide, where
murder requires either the
intent to kill — a state of mind called
malice — or
malice aforethought, which may involve an unintentional killing but with a
willful disregard for life.
Manslaughter is usually broken down into two distinct categories:
voluntary manslaughter and
involuntary manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter describes cases where the defendant may have an
intent to cause death or serious injury, but the potential liability for the person is mitigated by the circumstances and state of mind. The most common example is the so-called
heat of passion killing, such as where the defendant is
provoked into a loss of control by unexpectedly finding a spouse in the arms of a lover or witnessing an attack against his or her child.
There have been several types of voluntary manslaughter recognized in law, although they're so closely related, and in many cases indistinguishable, that many jurisdictions don't differentiate between them.
These types of defenses include:
- Provocation. This is a killing caused by an event or situation which would probably cause a reasonable person to lose self-control and kill.
- Heat of Passion. In this situation, the actions of another cause the defendant to act in the heat of the moment and without reflection. This falls under the provocation heading.
- Imperfect self-defense. This is a third type, which is allowed only in some US states. By default, self-defense is a complete defense to any charge of murder. However, if a person acted in the honest but unreasonable belief that self defense justified the killing, many US states will define this deliberate homicide committed without criminal malice, a manslaughter. The word "malice" is used in the definition of murder where the act is both an intentional killing and there's no legal excuse or mitigation. The honest belief in the need for self defense mitigates the crime so that one acts intentionally but without the legal "malice". Therefore, Imperfect Self-Defense refers to an intentional killing which is unlawful but doesn't rise to the level of being a murder.
- Diminished Responsibility is another defense to murder that will negate the charge down. Most US states require an almost complete mental breakdown to eliminate the culpable mental state of "malice". If a jurisdiction recognizes that a person can kill with justification but also without any evil intent, that jurisdiction is free to define the crime as something less than murder. Not all US states do this; in many, a mental defect or even mental illness won't reduce the seriousness of the offense whatsoever. However, if a US state legislature chooses, a diminished mental state may justify the finding of a lesser crime.
Another form of voluntary manslaughter in some countries is
infanticide. This offence was created by statute in some countries during the 20th century. Generally a conviction of infanticide will be made where the court is satisfied that a mother killed her newborn child while the balance of her mind was disturbed as a result of the process of child birth, for example in cases of
post-natal depression. It is a form of manslaughter and carries the same range of sentences as a manslaughter conviction. Though technically it's a separate offence to murder and not a reductive defense to murder (such as the defenses listed above), in practice it works in much the same way as a reductive defense.
Insanity is a different defense as it completely negates any criminal culpability although the mental health consequence can (though it's not guananteed to) result in as much confinement time as a murder conviction.
Involuntary manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter, sometimes called
criminally negligent homicide in the
United States,
gross negligence manslaughter in
England and Wales or
culpable homicide in
Scotland occurs where there's no intention to kill or cause serious injury but death is due to
recklessness or
criminal negligence.
Recklessness
Recklessness or
willful blindness is defined as a wanton disregard for the known dangers of a particular situation. An example of this would be a defendant throwing a brick off a bridge into vehicular traffic below. There exists no intent to kill; consequently, a resulting death may not be considered murder. However, the conduct is probably
reckless, sometimes used interchangeably with
criminally negligent, which may subject the principal to prosecution for involuntary manslaughter: the individual was aware of the risk of injury to others and willfully disregarded it.
In many jurisdictions, such as in
California, if the unintentional conduct amounts to such
gross negligence as to amount to a
willful or depraved indifference to human life, the
mens rea may be considered to constitute malice. In such a case, the charged offense may be murder, often characterized as
second degree murder.
Vehicular or intoxication manslaughter
Vehicular manslaughter is a kind of misdemeanor manslaughter, which holds persons liable for any death that occurs because of criminal negligence or a violation of traffic safety laws. A common use of the vehicular manslaughter laws involves prosecution for a death caused by
driving under the influence (determined by excessive blood alcohol content levels set by individual states), although an independent infraction (such as driving with a suspended
driver's license), or negligence is usually also required.
In some U.S. states, such as
Texas,
Intoxication Manslaughter is a distinctly defined offense. A person commits intoxication manslaughter if he or she operates a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and is
intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake.
Intoxication manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and other similar offenses require a lesser
mens rea than other manslaughter offenses. Furthermore, the fact that the defendant is entitled to use the alcohol, controlled substance, drug, dangerous drug, or other substance isn't a defense. For example, in Texas, to prove
intoxication manslaughter it's
not necessary to prove the person was negligent in causing the death of another, nor that they unlawfully used the substance that intoxicated them, but only that they were intoxicated and operated a motor vehicle and someone died as a result. The same rule of law applies in
New York for vehicular manslaughter in the second degree.
Misdemeanor manslaughter
In the United States, this is a lesser version of
felony murder and covers a person who causes the death of another while committing a
misdemeanor — that is, a violation of law that doesn't rise to the level of a felony. This may automatically lead to a
conviction for the homicide if the misdemeanor involved a law designed to protect human life. Many violations of safety laws are
infractions, meaning that a person can be convicted regardless of
mens rea.
Assisted suicide
In some states,
assisted suicide is punishable as a second degree of manslaughter.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Manslaughter'.
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