Award-Winning Philadelphia Homicide Lawyers | Fighting Murder and Manslaughter Charges in PA and NJ

Criminal Homicide Charges in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

Crimes involving the death of another person are some of the most serious offenses which could be prosecuted in the criminal justice system, and some degrees of murder even require a mandatory sentence of life without parole in Pennsylvania. However, depending on the situation, there are different levels of homicide offenses, and it is important to understand the difference between the different degrees of homicide when planning a defense to these serious charges. If you or a loved one are facing murder charges or are under investigation for criminal homicide, our Philadelphia homicide lawyers are here to get you the best possible outcome for your case. Criminal homicide is one of the most serious possible charges under Pennsylvania law, so timing is absolutely critical. Do not risk your freedom, your reputation, or your relationships by waiting to contact us to discuss your case.

Our skilled defense attorneys have won complete acquittals in murder cases through jury trials, obtained the dismissal of charges before trial by successfully litigating pre-trial motions to dismiss, and even convinced prosecutors to drop the charges for wrongfully accused clients in other cases. If you may be under investigation by the police, call 267-225-2545 to speak with a lawyer for homicide, murder, or manslaughter charges today.

What is criminal homicide?

Criminal homicide is the killing of another person which occurs when the defendant acted intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with certain degrees of negligence. This offense is broken up into categories, including three degrees of murder and two types of manslaughter.  It is punished based on the mental state of the defendant at the time of the killing, which means that it is not enough to show that someone has died; the Commonwealth must also show that death occurred due to the defendant’s actions and that the defendant intended the death at some level or acted in disregard of the risk that it would occur.

Types of Homicide Charges in Pennsylvania

As previously mentioned, homicide is divided into two general categories: murder or manslaughter. Murder charges are divided into first, second, and third degrees. Likewise, manslaughter is divided into two types - voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. There are also other types of charges that could apply in more specific circumstances such as Homicide while Driving under the Influence (“DUI”), Homicide by Vehicle, Homicide of a Law Enforcement Officer, or Drug Delivery Resulting in Death. Pennsylvania has seen an increasing number of prosecutions for Drug Delivery Resulting in Death in recent years, particularly in the suburbs and exurbs of Philadelphia in counties such as York, Lehigh, Lancaster, and Bucks. 

What is the difference between first, second, and third degree murder?

Murder is considered an intentional killing when the defendant was not acting in self-defense, acting in defense of another, or where a death occurred during the commission of a felony. First degree murder is the intentional killing of another person, or a “killing by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing.” This means that in order to be properly convicted of first-degree murder, the defendant must have not only killed someone else on purpose, but also thought about the decision in advance. Pennsylvania law is clear that the defendant does not have to have thought about it for long or taken serious steps to plan the killing, but there must be at least some appreciable time in which the defendant reflected on the killing and made the decision to commit it.

The charge of first-degree murder does not apply in situations where the defendant killed rashly on sudden impulse or because he killed on strong emotion, like panic, rage, or terror, or as a result of a mental disorder or intoxication. It also does not apply where the defendant unreasonably believed he or she was acting in self-defense. A conviction for first degree murder requires the sentencing judge to impose a sentence of life without parole. Thus, if the jury finds the defendant guilty of first-degree murder, the judge will typically proceed right to sentencing and impose the mandatory life without parole sentence.

Second Degree Murder

Second degree murder is often referred to as “felony murder” because the killing “is committed while defendant was engaged as a principal or an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony.”  In other words, it occurs during the course of a dangerous felony or violent crime. This means that if two people commit a felony together - such as armed robbery, burglary or rape - and one of the people kills someone during the commission of the felony, even the person who did not commit the killing can be charged with and convicted of murder.

For example, where two men commit a robbery but only one of them has a gun, if the person with the gun ends up shooting and killing the victim of the robbery, the person who did not have a gun can also be charged with murder. This charge is just a serious as first degree murder because it also requires the sentencing judge to impose a sentence of life without parole for even the person who did not commit the killing. The Commonwealth will frequently use that extreme mandatory minimum sentence as leverage to try to get the other co-defendants to cooperate against the shooter.

Third Degree Murder

Third degree murder applies to all other types of murder. It is a killing where the defendant may have intended his actions or intended to kill, but the killing was not premeditated. It is a felony of the first degree, but unlike other first-degree felonies, it is punishable by up to 40 years of incarceration instead of only 20 years. However, there is no mandatory minimum for a conviction for third degree murder, and therefore the judge may choose from a wide range of sentencing options when the defendant is convicted of third-degree murder instead of first- or second-degree murder. A conviction is still likely to result in a significant prison sentence, and the Pennsylvania Sentencing Guidelines call for a recommended minimum sentence of nearly ten years even for a defendant with no record. However, it is far better to be convicted of murder in the third degree than first degree because it does not automatically result in a life sentence. For these reasons, it is so important to have the best homicide lawyers on your side to help you minimize your jail time and fight to supplement less severe penalties.

Drug Delivery Resulting in Death

There is a special type of homicide charge, similar to Third Degree murder, called Drug Delivery Resulting in Death. With a rise in opioid related deaths in Pennsylvania, we continue to see more prosecutions where individuals who have sold or even just given another individual these drugs are charged with a type of homicide. In other words, Drug Delivery Resulting in Death is largely used to target alleged drug dealers and users who are accused of selling or giving drugs to someone who later took the drugs, overdosed, and died. In that scenario, if the Commonwealth can prove who sold the illegal drugs to someone who suffered a fatal overdose, then the Commonwealth may charge Drug Delivery Resulting in Death in addition to Possession with Intent to Deliver and other drug related charges.

Like third degree murder, Drug Delivery Resulting in Death is punishable by up to forty years in prison. Although there are many potential defenses to this charge, it is not a defense that the defendant did not know or intend that the decedent would overdose. It is a very broad statute which can easily be abused by prosecutors to charge people who are not really drug dealers. Therefore, if detectives are trying to question you regarding an overdose death in which you could have any potential liability, you should speak with one of our homicide lawyers prior to giving a statement to have the best chance to reduce the consequences. Many people believe that Pennsylvania has immunity laws for those who call 911 to help a friend who is overdosing, but it is important to note that this immunity does not apply in the case of a homicide charge. It only applies to misdemeanor drug offenses such as Knowing and Intentional Possession of a Controlled Substance or the Possession of Paraphernalia.

There are also aggravating circumstances in which a murder may be charged under Pa law. In these cases, there are certain circumstances, such as lack of remorse, or murder targeting a person in a particular position, such as a police officer, judge, or firefighter, among many others, which will ultimately lead to more serious penalties.

Types of Manslaughter Charges - What is the difference between voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter?

Manslaughter is also the killing of another human being, but it differs from murder in that it may either be intentional or unintentional, as well as voluntary or involuntary. It is typically treated as a much less severe crime than murder.  While voluntary manslaughter is an intentional killing, it is the intentional killing of another person where the defendant was “acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by” the person who was killed; or where in trying to kill the person who caused the sudden and intense passion, the defendant negligently or accidentally killed someone else. For example, voluntary manslaughter could involve shooting someone while so enraged by that person’s actions that the defendant could not control themselves.

Voluntary Manslaughter Charges

Voluntary manslaughter also occurs where the defendant kills someone believing that he or she was acting in self-defense or the defense of another person during an assault or attack, but the belief turns out to have been unreasonable. In many cases, it does not involve the intent to kill, but the intent to do something else.

For example, a defendant who shoots and kills someone in their house in the middle of the night believing that person to be an armed intruder could be charged with voluntary manslaughter if it turns out that the decedent was actually a family member and there was no real reason to believe it was an intruder. Therefore, voluntary manslaughter is either an intentional killing resulting from intense and sudden provocation, or it is a killing where the defendant genuinely believed he or she was acting in self-defense or defense of another, but that belief was unreasonable. 

Involuntary Manslaughter Charges

Involuntary manslaughter occurs when the defendant causes the death of another person by acting in a manner that is either reckless or grossly negligent.

Acting recklessly: When a person makes a conscious decision to disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

Gross negligence: When a person should have known of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and acts in a way a reasonable person would not have acted anyway.

In order to show negligence, the Commonwealth must show that a reasonable person would have perceived the risk and acted differently, and gross negligence requires an even greater showing than ordinary negligence. Involuntary manslaughter is often seen in car accidents in which the defendant was speeding or otherwise driving poorly and thereby caused a collision in which someone died. There are many grey areas in these cases, which is why you need a team of experienced homicide attorneys to thoroughly review your case and find details that could secure the best possible outcome for you.

Involuntary manslaughter is a misdemeanor of the first degree unless the decedent was under the age of 12 and in the care, custody, or control of the person who caused the decedent’s death. In that case, involuntary manslaughter becomes a felony of the second degree. Both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter can be sentenced by probation and/or incarceration because they do not carry a mandatory minimum sentence. 

Homicide Cases Are Different

Every homicide case is different, but because of the seriousness of the crime, all come with unique challenges. The government uses its best detectives and experts to investigate the case and its best prosecutors to prosecute the case. They will leave no stone unturned by conducting forensic tests and taking other steps to obtain evidence, which they simply would not do due to constraints on time constraints and resources had someone not been killed. Although homicide is normally a crime which is prosecuted in state court, there are situations, particularly in the Drug Delivery Resulting in Death context, in which federal prosecutors may have jurisdiction over the offense, as well.

Although every criminal case is serious, this is especially true when the defendant is charged or could be charged with a type of homicide. Additionally, prosecutors have recently announced an increasingly aggressive crack down on drug overdoses in response to the nationwide opioid crisis, leading to a large increase in the number of people charged with Drug Delivery Resulting in Death following an overdose. Because this charge can be as serious as third degree murder, it is critical that you hire the best homicide attorneys in Philadelphia, who possess the ability and expertise to contest these charges.

Facing criminal charges? We can help.

Our Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyers have the expertise necessary to challenge the government each step of the way. We have experience working with expert witnesses, challenging identifications, fighting forensic evidence, and thoroughly investigating cases in order to find exculpatory evidence that the police might have missed.

Our team of homicide attorneys know the best defenses for each unique case, and we know how to challenge each part of the Commonwealth’s case at the preliminary hearing; through pre-trial motions, and at trial with a judge or a jury. We also have extensive experience in skillfully negotiating for better outcomes for our clients, and we have obtained the best results even in cases in which the Commonwealth has a great deal of evidence. Most importantly, our award-winning defense attorneys have a proven track record of murder cases. If you or a loved one are under investigation or facing homicide charges, you need the best Philadelphia defense attorneys in your corner. Call 267-225-2545 for a free strategy session with one of our top-rated defense and appellate lawyers today.

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