MANSLAUGHTER

Manslaughter: Criminal homicide thats not murder; Criminal homicide committed without malice (remember that murder is criminal homicide committed with malice). At Common Law, M/S served as a catchall category for all criminal homicide that was not murder.

VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER 1 M/S

Common Law: M/S in which the death of the victim was the intended or contemplated result but was nonetheless mitigated 1
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MPC: M/S in which the victim was killed purposely or knowingly but was nonetheless mitigated1

UNREASONABLE BELIEF SELF-DEFENSE

Common Law: where death results from good faith but unreasonable belief that lethal force was necessary. MPC: Negligent Homicide * Killing in true self-defense is legally justified homicide (killing authorized by law); unreasonable belief self-defense is a partially justified, and thus mitigated homicide. * Some jurisdictions treat this as a subset of heat of passion, and thus as voluntary M/S; others treat it as a subset of criminally negligent homicide, and thus as involuntary M/S. **Steffey Prefers Voluntary M/S charges over Involuntary M/S charges for Imperfect Self-Defense State v. Sety (AZ, 1979) Camper kills crazy, drunk, psychopathic gun enthusiast aster being assaulted & making citizens arrest Convicted of 2 M Ct reduced to Vol M ! " appealed fro ac#uittal & $ appealed reduced charge %ppCt defference b t M and M ! is malice& Malice ' absence of (ustification, e)cuse, or mitigation& Fear of Death ' substantial circumstance of mitigation, precluding a finding of malice Rule: Any circumstance of substantial mitigation is sufficient to reduce murder to M/S. *he court found his shooting (ustified because the victim invoked terror and provocation in the " +mitigation ,ithout maliceHarris v. State (GA, 1937) .ittle guy shoots big guy after being assaulted convicted of Vol M ! *he " got in a fistfight ,ith the victim and shoots at his legs to get him off& /nds up killing him by a shot in the shoulder and stomach& " didnt intend to kill (ury should hear 0nc M s instruction Ct no& Malice is conclusively presumed where the actor voluntarily shoots the victim even if there is no intent to !ill& 1eadly 2eapon 1octrine
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A mitigating factor, in law, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sentence.

3eduction to 0nv M ! impossible ,here deadly ,eapon is intentionally used& 4eld that intent to kill is re#uired for voluntary manslaughter and found that he did have the intent to kill even though he shot at his legs&