Introduction
Murder is a violation that contains the elements of criminal behavior, a criminal goal, a cause, and an injury. In most nations, the criminal act component of murder is commonly defined as conduct that kills the victim (Montaldo, 2019). A person who commits a crime may execute the deed using a weapon, an automobile, poison, or even bare hands (Montaldo, 2019). Like other criminal offenses, the conduct must be voluntary (Montaldo, 2019). Unless an obligation to act has been established by legislation or common law, it cannot derive from a failure to act. In such a case, it becomes unlawful.
Discussion
The presence of criminal intent may only distinguish manslaughter and murder. Under common law, the criminal intent component of murder was malice aforethought. The federal government and many jurisdictions still uphold the crime of criminal intent with malice aforethought today (Majaski, 2020). Murder intent is behaving purposely, deliberately, or recklessly under circumstances that show a profound contempt for the value of human life (Majaski, 2020). Felony murder is an exception to the need for criminal intent in murder. Most jurisdictions pursue felony murder charges, which do not call for malice aforethought or murderous mental conditions.
Conclusion
The criminal act element needed to qualify as murder is the action that kills the victim. Premeditation is a factor that might elevate homicide to first-degree murder, as will be explained later. The deadly weapon hypothesis infers murderous intent when a defendant uses a fatal weapon (Majaski, 2020). A judge may instruct the jury that when a hazardous weapon is used, the defendant may have intended the natural and probable results of their unlawful behavior, including death. This makes it unnecessary to establish murderous intent.
References
Majaski, C. (2020). First-Degree Murder: An Overview. Law Info. Web.
Montaldo, C. (2019). What is the crime of murder? ThoughtCo. Web.