I really need to know this can you help me out??
2007-01-03 13:22:58 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Capital Murder is a murder that you can get the death penalty for. Exactly what is and is not a death penalty crime varies from State to State.
First degree murder is pre-meditated murder, aka "Cold Blooded Murder". You planned it, you had a chance to think about it, and you went ahead and did it anyway. The time period of pre-meditation can be as little as a split second, the key is that you obviously knew what you were doing.
Second degree murder is "heat of passion" murder, amongst other things. The key is that there is no premeditation and there is some sort of mitigating circumstance. For example if you come home from work early and find your wife in bed with the mailman, and you take your laptop and beat the mailman's head in, and he dies, that would be second degree murder.
If on the other hand you come home from work early and find your wife in bed with the mailman, put down your laptop, walk downstairs, unlock the gun safe, take out your .45, load it, walk back upstairs, and then shoot the mailman, that would be first degree murder, because you had planned it.
2007-01-03 13:33:23 · answer #1 · answered by Larry R 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Larry R. has given you a pretty good answer but pure_genius is just guessing. About 20 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to subject ALL murderers to a possible death penalty and there had to be guidance for jurors. The result was the various state's adopting what are usually called "special circumstances" which justify the death penalty. The result is you have second degree murder, first degree murder and "first degree murder WITH special circumstances" which is the definition of capital murder.
2007-01-03 22:17:55 · answer #2 · answered by RangerEsq 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
2nd degree murder is a lesser charge in most states and the sentence is lower than murder 1. There is really no difference between murder 1 and capital murder. In most states, murder 1 is a capital crime my definition. If a state code is making a distinction between murder 1 and capital murder, it means that only certain cases of murder 1 are subject to the death penalty. A good example would be felony murder, a murder committed while in the process of committing another felony.
2007-01-03 21:35:03 · answer #3 · answered by pure_genius 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Depends on the state. Texas only has murder, with no varying degrees. Anything not considered Murder is Manslaughter, Negligent Homicide, and so on.
2007-01-03 21:33:02 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
intention .premeditated ,.emotional or acidental.
2007-01-03 21:30:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋