Are they punished differently in the US? In most countries there isn’t really a distinction because of the difficulty in proving intent.
If somebody repeatedly kicks and punches somebody into unconsciousness and ultimately kills them from internal bleeding how do you prove what they intended to do?
Likely second, unless there was some evidence it was planned in some way. Like, if they also found a text talking about how much they hated that guy and wished he was dead, you could make a case for first. If there was a plan to bring the person to an isolated location for their fight, it would likely be first in that case. Same could be said for tracking their work shifts in preparation, casing their house to see when they’re alone, etc.
Not necessarily. According to the article above, even if you plan to beat the guy, it can still be second degree. If your plan was just to beat him up (without killing), then it’s second degree. Since the death itself wasn’t planned. Only the great bodily harm was planned.
EDIT: “depraved-heart murder, which can be considered second-degree”
Intent is not the difference. The difference is planning.
I am not a lawyer, but this my understand:
If you’re enjoying a quiet time in the park and a kid shouts, which disturbs you, so you shoot the kid in the head. You intended to kill the kid. You aimed at his head and shot a deadly weapon.
However, it was not planned. Your plan was to enjoy a quiet time in the park. You just killed the kid because of a momentary rage. You didn’t even know the kid.
I believe that would be second degree.
If you didn’t intend to kill, that would be something else, like gross negligence or whatever. For example running a red light and killing a kid that you didn’t even see because your enormous American car (which you call a truck, but the bed is always empty). That would not be first or second degree murder. In America it may just result in a traffic violation because you ran a red light. Might be a 100$ fine.
Are they punished differently in the US? In most countries there isn’t really a distinction because of the difficulty in proving intent.
If somebody repeatedly kicks and punches somebody into unconsciousness and ultimately kills them from internal bleeding how do you prove what they intended to do?
Likely second, unless there was some evidence it was planned in some way. Like, if they also found a text talking about how much they hated that guy and wished he was dead, you could make a case for first. If there was a plan to bring the person to an isolated location for their fight, it would likely be first in that case. Same could be said for tracking their work shifts in preparation, casing their house to see when they’re alone, etc.
Not necessarily. According to the article above, even if you plan to beat the guy, it can still be second degree. If your plan was just to beat him up (without killing), then it’s second degree. Since the death itself wasn’t planned. Only the great bodily harm was planned.
EDIT: “depraved-heart murder, which can be considered second-degree”
Intent is not the difference. The difference is planning.
I am not a lawyer, but this my understand:
If you’re enjoying a quiet time in the park and a kid shouts, which disturbs you, so you shoot the kid in the head. You intended to kill the kid. You aimed at his head and shot a deadly weapon.
However, it was not planned. Your plan was to enjoy a quiet time in the park. You just killed the kid because of a momentary rage. You didn’t even know the kid.
I believe that would be second degree.
If you didn’t intend to kill, that would be something else, like gross negligence or whatever. For example running a red light and killing a kid that you didn’t even see because your enormous American car (which you call a truck, but the bed is always empty). That would not be first or second degree murder. In America it may just result in a traffic violation because you ran a red light. Might be a 100$ fine.