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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 penalty is 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 a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of Life imprisonment without parole
A person convicted of second-degree murder in California will face a sentence of a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of Life imprisonment without parole. [12]
Punishments are increased if the murder victim was a peace officer, [13] or was killed during a drive-by shooting. [14]
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. [15]
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 |
|---|---|
| Any felony criminal homicide |
|
| Vehicular Manslaughter (Standard Negligence) | Up to 1 year in county jail |
| Vehicular Manslaughter (Gross Negligence) | Up to 1 year in county jail as a misdemeanor. 2, 4, or 6 years in state prison as a felony. |
| Vehicular Manslaughter for Financial Gain | 4, 6, or 10 years in state prison |
| Involuntary Manslaughter | 2, 3, or 4 years (a strike under California Three Strikes Law if a firearm was used) |
| Voluntary Manslaughter | 3, 6, or 11 years |
| Second Degree Murder | 15 years to Life imprisonment without parole |
| Second Degree Murder of a Peace Officer | 25 years to Life imprisonment without parole |
| Second Degree Murder by shooting from a motor vehicle with intent to cause great bodily injury (intent to cause death is prosecuted as 1st Degree Murder) | 20 years to Life imprisonment without parole |
| First Degree Murder | 25 years to Life imprisonment without parole |
| Assault Causing the Death of A Child Under 8 Years of Age (Penal Code 273ab(a)) | 25 years to Life imprisonment without parole |
| First Degree Murder constituting a hate crime or of an operator or driver | Life without parole (eligible for parole after 25 years if the defendant was under 18) |
| Aggravated First Degree Murder | Death or life without parole (eligible for parole after 25 years if the defendant was under 18) |
Under the California Uniform Bail Schedule, the standard bail for murder is $750,000. [16] 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).
note
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. 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, such as in the case of voluntary manslaughter 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 the convicted criminal is to remain in prison for the rest of their natural life. Crimes that result in life imprisonment are considered extremely serious and usually violent. Examples of these crimes are murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, illegal drug trade, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated property damage, arson, hate crime, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, theft, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide.
Capital punishment is not allowed to be carried out in the U.S. state of California, due to both a standing 2006 federal court order against the practice and a 2019 moratorium on executions ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. The litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Should the moratorium end and the freeze concluded, executions could resume under the current state law.
Section 187 of the California Penal Code defines the crime of murder. The number is commonly pronounced by reading the digits separately as "one-eight-seven", or "one-eighty-seven", rather than "one hundred eighty-seven".
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 (1972). Justice Brennan's dissent famously argued that "The calculated killing of a human being by the State involves, by its very nature, a denial of the executed person's humanity ... An executed person has indeed 'lost the right to have rights.'"
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.
Most jurisdictions in the United States of America maintain the felony murder rule. In essence, the felony murder rule states that when an offender kills in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime, the offender, and also the offender's accomplices or co-conspirators, may be found guilty of murder. It means that the common law malice required for murder is "implied as a matter of law for homicides arising from felonies." It is a widely criticized feature of American criminal law. Initially, it was widely believed by scholars that the felony murder rule had originated in England. However, more recent scholarship has argued that it likely originated in the United States, separately from England. Its historic roots have been called "deep but terribly obscure".
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.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Tennessee.
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.