Homicide covers a category of crimes in which one human being kills another
Homicide is generally defined as the unlawful killing of another human being.
Within the classification of homicide are crimes such as murder and manslaughter. Both of these crimes are summarized below:
The Crime Of Murder
Within the classification of murder, there is first-degree murder which includes premeditation, malice, motive, and a specific intent to kill.
Murder is a specific intent homicide but does not have the aggravating circumstances such as planning, lying-in-wait, and premeditation that murder in the first degree contains.
Depending on the jurisdiction, there are lower degrees of murder, such as murder in the second and third degree, which require a less specific intent and tend to be crimes of passion or diminished capacity.
The Crime Of Manslaughter
Manslaughter is considered a less culpable crime than murder and is a mental state of reckless indifference to the risk of harm.
Crimes of passion, such as someone who is emotionally provoked at a bar and then gets into a fight resulting in an unintended death. These are crimes involving provocation.
Drunk driving, especially by repeat drunk driving offenders who have caused injury or property damage in the past, is much more likely to be charged with manslaughter if a subsequent drunk driving charge involves a death.
