Lilibet
Southern Oregon
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It's interesting to take a look at AK law regarding first and second degree murder. It appears that the difference between first degree and second degree murder is intent. Is the intent to cause death or is the intent to cause serious physical injury (knowing that the conduct could cause death)? That's going to be tricky for LE to determine and we certainly don't know whether he intended to kill her or injure her. But he certainly would know that beating her on the head could cause death, so the least charge he can face would be second degree murder.
I imagine LE also considers his actions after killing her. But I'm not sure that attempting to drag her to the balcony (presumably to throw her overboard) necessarily indicates that he had intended to kill her. But it certainly makes him look worse. I'll be interested to know how they view that. And of course, if he recently purchased a few large life insurance policies on her, all bets are off IMO.
A defense for murder is "heat of passion" in a reasonable (not intoxicated) person resulting from serious provocation by the victim. However, insulting words or gestures by the victim do not constitute serious provocation. There goes the "she wouldn't stop laughing at me" defense.
All italics by me...
Sec. 11.41.100. Murder in the first degree. (a) A person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if (1) with intent to cause the death of another person, the person (A) causes the death of any person;
Sec. 11.41.110. Murder in the second degree. (a) A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if
(1) with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person or knowing that the conduct is substantially certain to cause death or serious physical injury to another person, the person causes the death of any person;
(2) the person knowingly engages in conduct that results in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life;
Sec. 11.41.115. Defenses to murder. (a) In a prosecution under AS 11.41.100(a)(1)(A) or 11.41.110(a)(1), it is a defense that the defendant acted in a heat of passion, before there had been a reasonable opportunity for the passion to cool, when the heat of passion resulted from a serious provocation by the intended victim.
(2) "serious provocation" means conduct which is sufficient to excite an intense passion in a reasonable person in the defendant's situation, other than a person who is intoxicated, under the circumstances as the defendant reasonably believed them to be; insulting words, insulting gestures, or hearsay reports of conduct engaged in by the intended victim do not, alone or in combination with each other, constitute serious provocation.
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#11.41.100
I imagine LE also considers his actions after killing her. But I'm not sure that attempting to drag her to the balcony (presumably to throw her overboard) necessarily indicates that he had intended to kill her. But it certainly makes him look worse. I'll be interested to know how they view that. And of course, if he recently purchased a few large life insurance policies on her, all bets are off IMO.
A defense for murder is "heat of passion" in a reasonable (not intoxicated) person resulting from serious provocation by the victim. However, insulting words or gestures by the victim do not constitute serious provocation. There goes the "she wouldn't stop laughing at me" defense.
All italics by me...
Sec. 11.41.100. Murder in the first degree. (a) A person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if (1) with intent to cause the death of another person, the person (A) causes the death of any person;
Sec. 11.41.110. Murder in the second degree. (a) A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if
(1) with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person or knowing that the conduct is substantially certain to cause death or serious physical injury to another person, the person causes the death of any person;
(2) the person knowingly engages in conduct that results in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life;
Sec. 11.41.115. Defenses to murder. (a) In a prosecution under AS 11.41.100(a)(1)(A) or 11.41.110(a)(1), it is a defense that the defendant acted in a heat of passion, before there had been a reasonable opportunity for the passion to cool, when the heat of passion resulted from a serious provocation by the intended victim.
(2) "serious provocation" means conduct which is sufficient to excite an intense passion in a reasonable person in the defendant's situation, other than a person who is intoxicated, under the circumstances as the defendant reasonably believed them to be; insulting words, insulting gestures, or hearsay reports of conduct engaged in by the intended victim do not, alone or in combination with each other, constitute serious provocation.
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/statutes.asp#11.41.100