first degree murder

first degree murder
The intentional killing of another person by someone who has acted willfully, deliberately, or with planning. All murder that is committed with poison or by lying in wait is first degree murder.
Category: Criminal Law
Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. . 2009.

first degree murder
n.
   although it varies from state to state, it is generally a killing which is deliberate and premeditated (planned, after lying in wait, by poison or as part of a scheme), in conjunction with felonies such as rape, burglary, arson, or involving multiple deaths, the killing of certain types of people (such as a child, a police officer, a prison guard, a fellow prisoner), or certain weapons, particularly a gun. The specific criteria for first degree murder, are established by statute in each state and by the U.S. Code in federal prosecutions. It is distinguished from second degree murder in which premeditation is usually absent, and from manslaughter, which lacks premeditation and suggests that at most there was intent to harm rather than to kill.

Law dictionary. . 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • first degree murder — Murder committed with deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, or with extreme atrocity or cruelty, or in the commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life, is murder in the first degree. State …   Black's law dictionary

  • first degree murder — Murder committed with deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, or with extreme atrocity or cruelty, or in the commission or attempted commission of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life, is murder in the first degree. State …   Black's law dictionary

  • first-degree murder — n. Killing someone deliberately and intentionally, having planned it beforehand, with extreme cruelty, or while committing another felony. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell.… …   Law dictionary

  • first–degree murder — see murder Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • first degree murder — first degree burn, first degree murder see under ↑degree • • • Main Entry: ↑first …   Useful english dictionary

  • first-degree murder — Law. See under murder (def. 1). * * * first degree murder, Law. homicide committed intentionally, or unintentionally while committing robbery, arson, or another felony …   Useful english dictionary

  • first-degree murder — first′ degree mur′der n. law See under murder 1) …   From formal English to slang

  • first-degree murder — noun A murder which is premeditated with malice aforethought Syn: premeditated murder, murder one See Also: murder, second degree murder …   Wiktionary

  • first-degree murder — See murder in the first degree …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • first degree murder — premeditated murder, murder which was planned in advance …   English contemporary dictionary

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