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Murder is one of the most heinous crimes that one can commit in Nevada. Its punishment is severe and harsh. According to Nevada’s law, murder is “the unlawful killing of a human being:
With malice as a forethought either; express or implied”. In simple words, murder is the act of killing whether planned or unplanned.
There are two types of Murder according to NRS 200.030:
First Degree Murder
Murders that are committed by poisoning, torture and any kind of willful and deliberate killing. The common example of first degree murders are: purposely stabbing, shooting, and strangulating (to death) someone.
Moreover, committing or attempting to commit sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, robbery, burglary, invasion of the home, sexual abuse of a child, sexual molestation of a child under the age of 14 years, child abuse or abuse of an older person are also considered first degree murder, whether or not the defendant did not have the intention to kill but ends up doing so.
Other types of first degree murders are:
- An act or attempted act of terrorism.
- Intending to create a great risk of death and injury to people by means of weapon, or course of action that is dangerous to other people in public or private schools.
Second Degree Murder
These are all other murders that are not listed in the first degree murder. It also is the act of intentionally killing without planning to do in advance; or actions taken that could easily be predicted in death, whether the action is un-intentional. A good example is; if a guy keeps his gun under his desk for protection, then he gets really angry, take out the gun and shoots someone. The intention (to kill) is present, but there is no plan to kill someone. Therefore, it is classified as second degree murder.
Other examples of second degree murders are:
- Playing a Russian roulette, that ended up killing someone.
- Firing into a weapon into a crowd.
- And any other acts that intends to cause severe injury but ended up in death.
Felony Murder
Felony murder is a killing that happens while committing a certain types of crime, whether the killing is intentional or not. This normally happens when the murder is the consequence of other offense such as:
- Driving under the influence and accidentally hitting and killing someone.
- When a group of people is robbing a house, and one of them shoots the owner due to panic, then all of them could be charged with felony murder.
- Adam went into a bank to commit a robbery. He holds the gun up to one of the older teller, who proceeds to have a heart attack and died. The heart attack is connected to the robbery, therefore, it would be considered as felony murder.
If you know someone who is charged for murder. It is of utmost importance that you contact a Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer immediately. Take expert advice from a criminal defense lawyer to defend the case.