Types of Crimes
A crime is an act against the public good, punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both. There are two major classifications of crime. The first classification of crime is a felony. A felony is a major crime punishable by imprisonment or death. Murder, manslaughter, burglary, robbery, and arson are examples of felonies. The second major classification of a crime is a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is a less serious crime with a less severe penalty. Misdemeanors that aren’t as serious are known as petty offenses. Driving an automobile without a license, lying about your age to purchase alcohol, and leaving the scene of an automobile accident are all examples of misdemeanors.
Crimes are defined by two elements. The first element is the criminal act. Every law that defines a crime must specifically explain the conduct that is forbidden by that law. The criminal act must also involve voluntary conduct. The second element is the required state of mind. The required state of mind is specified in the law that defines the crime. In this statue the mental state of mind is required.
There are many different crimes that are against people. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being. There are two degrees of murder. To be charged with the first degree of murder you must kill some one with premeditation, you use cruel torture in killing someone, and you kill someone while acting out a felony.
The second degree of murder is known as mans...
Crime can be defined as an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.
First, the first element of a crime is Mens rea. “The mental element is known as the mens rea, or mental state, of the defendant.” (Hames & Ekern, 2009) The prosecution lawyers try to prove if the defendant has knowledge of the crime. What was the defendant’s mental state? Were they aware of the effect of the crime, did the defendant plan the crime, o...
Murder is defined by Curtis (1910) as the act of killing another human being (p.639). This is done unlawfully and with malice aforethought. Most of the time, those convicted of murder are found guilty for reasons of previous violence with the victim, intention on the action, and how much they dwelt on their feelings (Spackman, Belcher, Calapp, & Taylor, 2002, p.616). For example, if the defendant had a history of violence against the victim, intended the action, and dwelt on their feelings, they were most likely to be convicted of
Murder, as the online dictionary Merriam-Webster states, is the crime of unlawfully killing a person. This is a general term for murder and is further broken down into subcategories. This is done in order to adequately distinguish the multitude of different types of murder. With names such as first degree, second degree, and voluntary manslaughter, many murders can be classified under a specific category.
A criminal is obviously an individual who commits a crime, but what is crime? A crime is any act or omission of an act in violation of a public law. Though most laws are common throughout America, some laws are also established by local and state governments as well. Criminal laws and penalties vary from state to state. Crimes include both felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are serious crimes like murder or rape and are punishable by imprisonment for a year or more. The consequence for felonies such as murder and treason can be the death penalty. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes like petty theft or speeding and are punishable by less than a year in prison. Fines are also punishments of both misdemeanors and felonies. The fine’s amount is determined by the seriousness of the case. However, no act is a crime unless it has been stated as such by an American law or statute.
Murder is the intentional killing of one person by another. Capital punishment does just that. It takes the life of one person and uses another, "the executioner," to do it. In the state of Indiana, the warden of the state prison acts as "the executioner." The killing takes place before the hour of sunrise on a fixed day. The warden, "executioner," flips a switch that sends electrical current into the body of the convicted prisoner, thus ending the prisoner's life. What happens during the execution is one person's life is intentionally ended by the act of another. The difference, however, is that capital punishment is condoned by the state. The state's Supreme Court, Appeals Court, Superior courts, and prosecutors all play an important role in condoning the use of capital punishment.
To be found guilty of first degree murder, it must be proven that killed someone with malice aforethought, meaning it was planned, premeditated. First degree murder is to kill malevolence, to kill either intentionally and deliberately or recklessly with the utmost disregard for human life. Premeditation may be fashioned immediately and does not require a lengthy period of contemplation. The death penalty is recognized in Thirty-eight states. Capital first-degree murder or aggravated first-degree murder is categorized in killings viewed as deserving of capital punishment. Life imprisonment or death penalty is the punishment resulted in a conviction. States who do not recognized the death penalty, aggravated murder carries life imprisonment. When aggravated or capital murder is committed in a heinous or monstrous fashion, it is considered homicide (Lippman, 2006).
A strong example of this would be the recent exploits at the Woodstock 99 music festival.
Murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. A non-criminal homicide ruling, usually commited in self-defense or in defense of another.
Crime is some action/omission that causes harm in a situation that the person/group responsible ‘ought’ to be held accountable and punished irrespective of what the law book of state say.
A death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes. Capital punishment can also be applied for treason, espionage, and other crimes. The death penalty, or capital punishment, may be prescribed by Congress or any state legislature for murder and other capital crimes. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Jacqueline T. Fish, L. S. (2014). Bullets and Cartridge Casings. In Crime Scene Investigation (p. 181). Waltham: Anderson.
Legal crimes are an act that violates the law in itself but is considered legal given the situation. For example; killing someone in self defense violates the law, however; murder in itself is a crime, but protecting one's life if threatening by bodily harm or injury is legal. Therefore, killing in self defense is a legal crime. Legal crimes are acts that are not harmful to another person, however; these acts are defined as crimes by society because of the influence these crimes have on those who are in authority. Legal crimes are less serious because they cause less harm, are not as frequent and are not as widespread. People who commit assault, fraud, embezzlement, vandalism, prostitution, and disorderly conduct are committing legal crimes. Legal crimes are not an obvious crime and do not have an obvious victim. However, not all crimes are reported to the police, therefore crimes are classified by the degree of harm caused, how frequent they occur, and how pervasive the crimes are throughout the country. Crimes can be distinguished by degree or severity of the crime by dividing the crimes into groups; felonies for severe crime and misdemeanors for less severe crimes. Another way to distinguish crime is between mala in se which is rape or murder or mala prohibita, which is trespassing, gambling, or prostitution. Once the public understands that the balance is the goal of "justice" the next step is to understand the difference between a natural crime and a legal crime.
Homicide is defined as “the killing of one human by another.”(Legal-dictionary, 2008) There are 3 categories of homicide which include first and second degree Murder, Manslaughter and Justifiable Homicide. First degree murder is when a person plans to and follows through with the killing of another person where the intent was death such as a boyfriend finding out his girlfriend is pregnant but because he does not want the baby he pushes the girlfriend down the stairs and kills them both he could then be charged with two counts of first degree murder. Second degree murder is almost like first degree murder in the sense that a person killed another person but they did not plan to kill them for example if a person were driving while drunk and caused an accident that killed another person she could be charged with second degree murder because she did not plan to crash and kill the other person but her actions of drinking caused the accident and the death of that person
Murder is considered a serious crime in our country. The loosely defined term of murder implies that a person who kills another human being with intent is known as being the worst kind of violent crime we see in our society. Any unlawful killing requires that a living person be killed and it does not mean that the guilty person feels any hatred or spite in order to plan and execute the act of murder. Moreover, the destructive acts that end peoples lives are classified as homicides which include manslaughter and first and second degree murder. More important, the justice system has put different labels on such crimes, but it also allows room for criminals to get away with murder.