The minute a person is accused of murder, society is likely to assume the individual is guilty, despite the 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments of our constitution which state that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. However, a jury’s view of a case may be automatically distorted by the maliciousness of the crime. Therefore a strong defense case will be important to proving innocence or securing a lesser charge.
Degrees of Murder
In cases of attempted murder, it is treated the same as if you actually did murder someone, the only difference is the penalty involved. If the victim dies because of their injuries at a later time, you could still be charged with felony murder or manslaughter, unless you can prove you had absolutely nothing to do with the attack. Under law, there are several degrees of murder defined, and each one has their own particular defense strategy to go with them. This is why it is essential that you retain the best criminal attorney to defend your side.
First degree murder is defined as being intentional and premeditated, meaning that you planned to commit such an act.
Second degree murder is considered to be unplanned, and done in the heat of passion, or through an act where it can be proven that you did not care about the lives of others involved.
Manslaughter is a lesser charge than second degree, with the same conditions, but can be determined to be either voluntary, which means you knew the risk to another’s life or involuntary, which means you had no control over the actions leading up to the other person dying.
Dealing with the Charges
As we said earlier, being charged with attempted murder means that the prosecuting attorney believes that you attacked the victim with the intent to kill them, but against all odds, the victim survived. You would not have been charged, false or otherwise, unless a witness or evidence gathered by the police places you at the scene of the attack. The surviving victim may have identified you as their attacker, or an outside, unknown witness may have identified you as the attacker. Evidence gathered at the scene may have supplied proof that you were the attacker. However they came about the belief that you are guilty, this is not a charge that is bantered about lightly by the police, or the legal system, so it would be in your best interest to cooperate fully with them when charged and arrested.
Due to the serious sentences of this crime, it is important for anyone accused of murder to obtain experienced legal representation for their defense. Everyday falsely accused murderers will be defended successfully. If innocent of the crime, it is especially necessary to collect evidence that disproves the accusations. There may not be enough evidence to prove the individual guilty of the crime. DNA evidence has been a useful tool to question the guilt of the accused. If the an action was performed in self defense and it resulted in a fatality, it may result in a case being thrown out, or a reduced sentence.