Is it safe to assume homicidal violence is murder and not manslaughter?
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If I am not mistaken, 'homicidal violence' includes the element of '
intent', meaning the violence was intended and was so great that the outcome was reasonably foreseen to be homicide.
Manslaughter as defined in "Black's Dictionary" can be used as guidance and reads:
(t)he unlawful killing of another without malice, either express or implied. Such may be either voluntarily, upon sudden heat, or involuntarily, but in the commission of some unlawful act. The unlawful killing of a human without any deliberation, which may be involuntary, in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection. Wallace v U.S., 162 U.S. 466, 16 S. Ct. 859, 40 LEd. 1939.
Black's defines
murder as :
"The unlawful killing of a human being by another with malice aforethought, either express of implied." State v Hutter, 145 Neb. 798, 18 N.W. 2d 203, 206.
Blacks' give us generally acceptable, universal, definitions but states define these terms in statutes and words may vary, however, the distinguishing element is
intent.
Violence is defined in Black's as:
Unjust or unwarranted exercise of force, usually with the accompaniment of vehemence, outrage or fury. People v McIllvain, 65 Cal. App.2d 332, 130 P.2d 131, 134. . . .
The term used is 'homicidal violence' and it is not a legal term of art but rather a description of the injuries caused by another that were so severe that the reasonably foreseeable outcome would be death, as in, for example only, a grown man relentlessly hitting a baby's head with a hammer. IOW the degree of violence implies that the perp intended to inflict serious bodily harm or death. From the injuries one can infer intent.
If we combine the definitions, I suggest that we can conclude that law enforcement and the coroner believe that the injuries were inflicted to intentionally cause serious injury or death while the perp was enraged.
Of course, the next line of inquiry would be "but, what if the perp claims he was acting during a moment of passion (anger/rage/etc.) and therefore fall into the manslaughter category?" This issue would be decided by the trier of fact, whether judge or jury after a trial on the merits and after consideration of both the state's case and the defenses asserted.