Homicide: causes, patterns, and prevention strategies

HOMICIDE

In any society, it is of utmost importance that its citizens feel safe and secure so that it can continue to work properly and without any disruptions. This is ensured by devising laws and regulation to safeguard the lives and properties of its citizens.

Under the Constitution of United States, Homicide is a crime that is defined as the "killing of one human being by another human being" (Homicide, n.d.). It is then further categorized into Murder -- 1st and 2nd degree, and then Manslaughter, although the law categorically expels suicide as a murder from its clause.

Murder, to be categorized as 1st degree needs to be committed with a motive and with a predetermined frame of mind, or in "cold blood" or by "lying in wait" (Stevens, 2003). The crime must have taken place while the accused is committing a felony crime, which include among other, sexual abuse, child abuse, burglary, armed robbery. Some of the possible defenses in this regard, and one very popular is self-defense or mostly an effort will be made by the defender's lawyers to present the crime as in a fact a 2nd degree charge.

For a murder in the 2nd degree, the crime should be proved to have been committed without a specific intent; however, it is necessary that at the time of the murder a felony crime was not in process by the accused. The crime is punishable by law for either imprisonment for life or by death and by imprisonment for any term of years or for life respectively (U.S. Federal Law: Homicide, n.d.). Self-defense is the most accepted defense against this sort of crime, where the defendant can argue that he committed the crime as a step to stop a felony being committed against him (Hornsby, n.d.).

Manslaughter can either be categorized as voluntary or involuntary, where a voluntary manslaughter is defined as committed in the "heat of passion," usually during a quarrel; an involuntary manslaughter, considered the least offensive charge in homicide, is when the death is caused by an accident and without any direct confrontation between the accused and the victim (Stevens, 2003). A voluntary manslaughter is punishable by not more than ten years or a fine, or both, whereas, involuntary manslaughter is punishable by not more than six-year or a fine, or both. Since the name of the crime clearly indicates that there was some form of voluntary action in killing the victim, therefore one of the most basic defense in this regard has always been insanity, where the defendant is presented as being unable to "distinguish between right and wrong" at the time of the crime (Voluntary Manslaughter Defenses, n.d).

Since most of the charges of involuntary manslaughter are related to vehicular accident, therefore a new category has been introduced under the heading of "Vehicular Manslaughter," since DUI and reckless driving are becoming too common an offense state wide (Stevens, 2003). Some of the felonies that can be charged under this heading include fleeing from a police officer, reckless driving, overtaking of a school bus. Again, the charge is categorized into 1st and 2nd degree, the first degree being acted out voluntarily, while the second degree being unintentional in nature.