When you hear that someone has killed another person, then you probably think of murder. While this is a common crime associated with the killing of another human, you should also consider manslaughter. Whether you’ve been charged with murder or manslaughter, you should seek the assistance of an attorney who can present as much evidence as possible in support of the reasons behind your actions. Your attorney can also work to try to get your sentenced shortened and to keep you from receiving the death penalty as a punishment.
If there’s no intent to kill another person before the crime is committed, then you’ll usually be charged with manslaughter. Since there was no intent to kill the other person, then there isn’t as much blame involved from a moral standpoint. However, there was still a crime that took place that you would have to be punished for, which usually results in spending several years in prison. There are two different types of manslaughter to keep in mind when you’re talking to your attorney.
If you kill another person in the heat of the moment, it’s often considered voluntary manslaughter. You would need to be provoked in a strong manner to commit the crime but without planning out the killing. After the provoking act, there must not be enough time for you to calm your thoughts. Even though you might plan to kill the other person, it’s done so because of a trigger instead of by careful planning that is involved with a murder. An example would be if you were to see your spouse in bed with another person when you get home from work. Because you saw your spouse in this situation and killed either your spouse or the other person in the bed, it could be considered manslaughter since the actions of the other person triggered you to commit the crime.
Another type is involuntary manslaughter. You’ll usually be charged with this crime if you kill another person while committing a different kind of crime or if you commit an act that results in the death of another person without any kind of planning or thought at all. This is often considered a reckless type of killing where it’s accidental. An example would be if you were driving and hit and killed someone on the road. You didn’t intend to kill that person but were unable to avoid hitting them.
Murder is the careful planning of the killing of another person. This is a crime that often takes time to plan out with thought about the consequences involved. You understand right from wrong and know that you are taking the life of another person.
A provoked killing would be if you shot someone who says something unnerving to you while you’re walking on a busy sidewalk. An intentional act with an unintentional result would be if you were arguing with someone and pushed the person to the point where that person fell and died as a result of your actions.
An attorney is often your best option if you are charged with manslaughter or murder because the penalty for murder in many states is death. It’s important to reveal all of the details about the crime and why you committed your actions so that your attorney can represent you in the best way in court.