Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a civil terminology used to describe the act of killing an individual which is slightly culpable as compared to the commitment of murder. The distinctive factor between murder and manslaughter is the mental state of the individual committing the felony(Loveless, 2012). Manslaughter is categorized into voluntary and involuntary.
Voluntary manslaughter is the instance where the culprit has an intent which leads to a serious injury or death of an individual. Voluntary manslaughter usually carries light degree of charges basing on the mental state of the defendant and the circumstances he or she faces. According to Collings (1962), a homicide is regarded not to be capital and without malice, even if intentional, provided the homicide was committed under the heat of passion upon one being adequately provoked. Provocation is considered to be an extenuating condition which justifies the imposition of a reduced penalty, a logical substitute to the common law discrepancy. A n example of voluntary manslaughter is the case where an individual is informed that the victim raped his wife.
Involuntary manslaughter on the other hand is the instance which occurs when one kills another individual without the intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. Involuntary manslaughter has two main types; the negligent manslaughter and misdemeanour manslaughter (Collings, 1962). If an intentional illegal act results in the death of a person, then the actor is said to have committed involuntary manslaughter. A typical example is the case which involves death arising from a battery and assault where there exists the intention to injure but not to injure seriously or kill.
Negligent homicide (sometimes referred to as involuntary manslaughter) occurs when a homicide has been committed negligently. It is the killing of an individual by gross negligence or without any malice (Loveless, 2012). Negligent homicide often includes death which is as a result of the negligent driving or operation of an aircraft, snowmobile or boat. It is categorized as a death by conduct which grossly deviated from normal concern or care. Negligent homicide might be charged as a slight offense of manslaughter.
The felony murder rule is a legal code in some jurisdictions which extends murder crime in two ways. First, when a person kills another without the intent to kill or accidentally while committing a felony, that person should be convicted of murder. Lastly, it makes an individual who commits such a felony to be criminally liable for the deaths which might occur as a consequence of that felony (Loveless, 2012). Therefore, at grievous incidents of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide one might be accused of murder.
References
Collings, R.A. (1962). Offenses of Violence against the Person. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 339: 42-56.
Loveless, J. (2012). Complete Criminal Law: Text, cases, and materials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
