Even though murder charges are violent felonies, these cases are still defensible. Examples of common defenses against murder (or homicide) include mistaken identity, no intent, accident, self-defense, and insanity. If convicted, the maximum penalty is up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In This Article
Violent crimes defense lawyer Marc A. Grano discusses five possible defenses to murder charges. Grano Law Offices, P.C. wrote this post to help people understand their general legal rights and potential options.
5 Possible Defenses to Murder
There are two categories of murder charge defenses: assertions and admissions. Assertions are defenses that state you did not commit the crime, whereas admissions are defenses that state you committed the crime, but it was not intentional or preventable. In some matters, your murder defense attorney could argue that the prosecutor has not proven the charges against you.
As described in the introduction of this article, here is a closer look at more common and specific defenses that fall under assertions and admissions:
Defense #1. Mistaken Identity
If you are wrongfully accused, you can argue a case of mistaken identity, or more formally, that the prosecution has filed charges against the wrong defendant. Other arguments may include challenging the prosecutor’s accusations that you were also at the crime scene. Your attorney could submit proof that exonerates you or identifies another individual.
Defense #2. Inability to Form a Deliberate Intent
The inability to form deliberate intent is the issue of intoxication or mental disease or disorder, making the defendant incapable of creating a deliberate intention to take the life of another or to know the defendant’s conduct was greatly dangerous to the lives of others. People often claim this defense when facing willful and deliberate murder or depraved mind murder charges.
Defense #3. Misfortune or Accident (Excusable Homicide)
Accidental death is not necessarily considered murder. Some fatalities are due to manslaughter. Manslaughter charges reduce your penalties since they are not capital or first-degree felonies. However, excessive force or acting unreasonably can increase the charges from manslaughter to murder. Your attorney will help you understand the particulars of your case to determine if it is possible to get your charges dropped or reduced.
Defense #4. Self Defense (Justifiable Homicide)
Claiming self-defense is another type of defense against murder charges. Self-defense or defense of another is an appearance of an immediate danger of death or great bodily harm to the defendant or another due to the decedent’s actions. The ddecedent’saction resulted in the defendant being put in fear, and in reaction to that fear, the defendant killed the decedent. In addition, a reasonable person would have acted as the defendant did.
Defense #5. The Insanity Defense
Your jurisdiction may allow for an insanity defense in a first-degree murder case. Insanity is marked as a cognitive inability to understand or recognize the severity of the crime committed. It is also described as the inability to realize that the act is immoral or wrong. A murder defense lawyer will look at your or your loved one’s case with experts to determine if an insanity defense is possible. Our legal team would also help you understand the legal implications of making such an admission.
