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By LegalMatters Staff • Police will be looking to lay charges whenever someone is unlawfully killed. But will the suspect be charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter? It all depends on the circumstances and the intent behind the act.
“A first-degree murder charge is laid when the killing is planned and deliberate,” says Calgary criminal lawyer Greg Dunn. “It can also be laid if the death was a contracted hit, with money or something else of value being rewarded for the action.”
To obtain a conviction for first-degree murder, the Crown prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused intended to kill the victim, he says.
By comparison, second-degree murder is “all murder that is not first-degree murder,” according to s.231(7) of the Criminal Code.
“Second-degree murder is committed with intent but without premeditation,” explains Dunn. “For example, a person may be committing a robbery and they take the life of someone at the scene.”
A third option for police is to lay a charge of manslaughter when an unlawful death occurs.
“Manslaughter is a homicide but what separates it from first- and second-degree murder lies in the lack of intent behind the act,” he says.
Dunn notes that lawyers can sometimes convince the court to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter if it can be shown the suspect acted in the heat of passion or as a result of a sudden provocation.
“Sudden provocation is defined as circumstances of such a nature that any ordinary person would be deprived of the power of self-control,” he explains.
