Degrees of Homicide, Research Paper Example

In general terms murder or homicide is the unlawful killing of another human being.  The precise definition will vary between States.  Homicide can be criminal or  noncriminal, the most serious of these being murder.  There are degrees of murder.  First-degree murder, premeditated killing and the class a felony attracting life imprisonment or the death penalty.  Second-degree murder, not an intentional or premeditated killing.  E.g. provocation.  Class B. felony punishable by up to 60 years in prison.  Criminally neglected homicide, the course of the death of another by thoughtless behavior.  A class G crime  and if convicted $25,000 fine and/ or  up to 10 years in prison.  In Indiana, the death penalty is only available for the crime of murder.  In order to seek the death penalty, the prosecutor must cite the existence of at least one aggravating circumstances set out in the death penalty statute.  IC 35-50 -2- 9.  The method of the death penalty in Indiana since 1995, has been by lethal injection.  Figure 1 illustrates a decline in the number of executions since 1995.  Example : State of Indiana v. Zachariah Melcher   (10C01-0504-MR-038) Charged on three counts of homicide. Murdered wife and child, previous convicted felon.

 ” On August 3, 2006 Melcher pled guilty to 3 Counts of Murder pursuant to a “Statement of Plea Agreement to Ensure that the Defendant is Never Released from Prison.” With the recommendation of the victim’s family, he was sentenced by Judge Daniel F. Donahue to consecutive terms of Life Imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole on Count I, Life Imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole on Count II, and to a fixed term of 65 years imprisonment on Count III.[1]

[1] Clk County Prosectuting Attorney. (2010). Clark County Death Penalty. Retrieved 4 24, 2010, from Clark County Prosectuting Attorney: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/dpclark.htm