 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2021) |
| California law |
|---|
 |
| Constitution |
| Codes |
| Note: There are 29 California codes. |
| Courts of record |
| Areas |
The law on the crime of murder in the U.S. state of California is defined by sections 187 through 191 of the California Penal Code. [1]
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the year 2020, the state had a murder rate near the median for the entire country. [2]
The Code defines murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought", with the exception of abortions consented to by the mother of the fetus, where an abortion is necessary to preserve the mother's life, or when the abortion complied with the Therapeutic Abortion Act. [3] While malice may be expressed in the form of a 'deliberate intention to take away the life of a fellow creature', it may be implied when there is no 'considerable provocation' for the killing, or when the circumstances around the killing 'show an abandoned and malignant heart'. [4]
In California, the common law "year and a day" rule has been changed to a "three years and a day" rule. [5] If a death occurs more than three years and one day after the act alleged to have caused it (and the act was committed on or after 1 January 1997), there is "a rebuttable presumption that the killing was not criminal", but the prosecution may seek to overcome this presumption. [6] However, if the murder is committed by somebody who is serving a term of life imprisonment and is sentenced to state prison the year and a day rule applies instead. [7]
There are multiple degrees of murder in California.
Second-degree murder is any murder that does not constitute first-degree murder. [8]
Murder may be charged as first-degree murder if committed under the following circumstances:
Also known as first degree murder with special circumstances, capital murder is distinguishable from first-degree murder in that the death penalty may be imposed upon conviction. The circumstances which allow for the death penalty (If the defendant was under 18, the only penalties are life without parole or 25 years to life. Youth offender parole laws require a parole hearing after 25 years regardless of sentence imposed however.) to be imposed for murder are contained in
In addition, aiding, abetting, counseling, commanding, inducing, soliciting, requesting, or assisting in the commission of a crime enumerated in subdivision (17), with reckless indifference to human life and as a major participant, is murder even if even if the defendant is not the actual killer.
Although technically not charged under section 187, the following crimes involving the death of a person may also lead to a death sentence.
If a person is convicted of capital murder in California, that person may face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty. [11]
A person convicted of first-degree murder will face a sentence of 25 years-to-life in prison, and thus must serve at least 25 years before being eligible for parole. [11] If the murder was committed because of the victim's race, religion, or gender, the convicted will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. [12]
A person convicted of second-degree murder in California will face a sentence of 15 years-to-life in prison, and thus must serve at least 15 years in prison before being eligible for parole. [13]
Punishments are increased if the murder victim was a peace officer, [14] or was killed during a drive-by shooting. [15]
If a gun was used during the murder, the punishment will include an additional 10, 20, or 25 years to life prison sentence. Those convicted will also receive a strike on their criminal record, and fines of up to $10,000. They will also have to pay restitution to victims, and will no longer be allowed to own a gun. [16]
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the year 2020, the state had a murder rate near the median for the entire country. [2]
A summary of the penalties for California's homicide offenses is listed below.
| Offense | Mandatory sentencing [17] |
|---|---|
| Misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter | Up to 1 year in jail |
| Involuntary manslaughter | 2 to 4 years in prison |
| Felony vehicular manslaughter | 2 to 10 years in prison |
| Voluntary manslaughter | 3 to 11 years in prison |
| Second-degree murder | 15 years to life-without-parole |
| First-degree murder | 25 years to life-without-parole |
| First-degree murder with special circumstances | Death ( de jure ) or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
Under the California Uniform Bail Schedule, the standard bail for murder is $750,000. [18] The standard bail for first-degree murder with special circumstances (that is, circumstances under which the district attorney is seeking the death penalty) is "NO BAIL" (which means that bail is denied outright).
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted criminals are to remain in prison for the rest of their lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or commuted to a fixed term. Crimes that warrant life imprisonment are usually violent and/or dangerous. Examples of crimes that result in life sentences are murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, drug trafficking, drug possession, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated criminal damage, arson, and hate crime, kidnapping, burglary, and robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, severe cases of child pornography, or any three felonies in the case of a three-strikes law.
In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is a legal penalty. However it is not allowed to be carried out as of June 2023, because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to the moratorium, executions were frozen by a federal court order since 2006, and the litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Thus, there will be a court-ordered moratorium on executions after the termination of Newsom's moratorium if capital punishment remains a legal penalty in California by then.
Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.
Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. It reaffirmed the Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States, upholding, in particular, the death sentence imposed on Troy Leon Gregg. The set of cases is referred to by a leading scholar as the July 2 Cases, and elsewhere referred to by the lead case Gregg. The court set forth the two main features that capital sentencing procedures must employ in order to comply with the Eighth Amendment ban on "cruel and unusual punishments". The decision essentially ended the de facto moratorium on the death penalty imposed by the Court in its 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia 408 U.S. 238 (1972).
The People of the State of California v. Robert Page Anderson, 493 P.2d 880, 6 Cal. 3d 628, was a landmark case in the state of California that outlawed capital punishment for nine months until the enactment of a constitutional amendment reinstating it, Proposition 17.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder, and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
Capital punishment in Alabama is a legal penalty. Alabama has the highest per capita capital sentencing rate in the United States. In some years, its courts impose more death sentences than Texas, a state that has a population five times as large. However, Texas has a higher rate of executions both in absolute terms and per capita.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Wyoming.
Capital punishment was abolished in Colorado in 2020. It was legal from 1974 until 2020 prior to it being abolished in all future cases.
In Canada, homicide is the act of causing death to another person through any means, directly or indirectly. Homicide can either be culpable or non-culpable, with the former being unlawful under a category of offences defined in the Criminal Code, a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada that applies uniformly across the country. Murder is the most serious category of culpable homicide, the others being manslaughter and infanticide.
In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder and, in a few states, third-degree murder, which in other states is divided into voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which are the least serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.
In the state of California, a heavily modified version of the common law felony murder rule is codified in California Penal Code § 189.
Manslaughter is a crime in the United States. Definitions can vary among jurisdictions, but manslaughter is invariably the act of causing the death of another person in a manner less culpable than murder. Three types of unlawful killings constitute manslaughter. First, there is voluntary manslaughter which is an intentional homicide committed in "sudden heat of passion" as the result of adequate provocation. Second, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that was committed in a criminally negligent manner. Finally, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that occurred during the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act which does not amount to a felony.
In the United States, there are both federal and state laws prohibiting treason. Treason is defined on the federal level in Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution as: "only in levying War against [the United States], or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." Most state constitutions include similar definitions of treason, specifically limited to levying war against the state, "adhering to the enemies" of the state, or aiding the enemies of the state, and requiring two witnesses or a confession in open court. Fewer than 30 people have ever been charged with treason under these laws.
Special circumstances in criminal law are actions of the accused, or conditions under which a crime, particularly homicide, was committed. Such factors require or allow for a more severe punishment.
Murder in Florida law constitutes the intentional killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Florida.
Murder in Minnesota law constitutes the killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Minnesota.
Murder in New York law constitutes the unlawful killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of New York. Because the criminal law of the state also governs the City of New York, there is not a separate law applicable to murders committed in the city.