Capital murder was a

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

offence of

aggravated murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

, and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

, which was later adopted as a legal provision to define certain forms of aggravated murder in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. In some parts of the US, this term still defines the category of murder for which the perpetrator is eligible for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

. Some jurisdictions that provide for death as a possible punishment for murder, such as

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, do not have a specific statute creating or defining a crime known as capital murder; instead, death is one of the possible sentences for certain kinds of murder. In these cases, "capital murder" is not a phrase used in the legal system but may still be used by others such as the media.

Great Britain

In Great Britain, this offence was created by section 5 of the

Homicide Act 1957 The Homicide Act 1957 (5 & 6 Eliz.2 c.11) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted as a partial reform of the common law offence of murder in English law by abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice (except in limi ...

. Previously all murders carried the death penalty on conviction, but the 1957 Act limited the death penalty to the following cases: * Murder in the course or furtherance of theft; s.5(1)(a) * Murder by shooting or by causing an explosion; s.5(1)(b) * Murder in the course or for the purpose of resisting, avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest, or of effecting or assisting an escape or rescue from legal custody; s.5(1)(c) * Murder of a police officer acting in the execution of his duty, or of a person assisting a police officer so acting; s.5(1)(d) * Murder of a prison officer acting in the execution of his duty, or of a person assisting a prison officer so acting, by a person who was a prisoner at the time when he did or was a party to the murder; s.5(1)(e). In all other cases murder carried the mandatory penalty of imprisonment for life. Section 1 of the

Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the death penalty for murder in Great Britain (the death penalty for murder survived in Northern Ireland until 1973). The act replac ...

abolished the separate category of capital murder, and all murders now carry the mandatory penalty of imprisonment for life.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, this offence was created by section 10 of the

Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 The Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 (c 20) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Homicide Act 1957 and the Suicide Act 1961 for Northern Ireland. Part I – Provisions as to crimi ...

. On the trial of an indictment for capital murder, the jury could not return an

alternative verdict In criminal law, a lesser included offense is a crime for which all of the elements necessary to impose liability are also elements found in a more serious crime. It is also used in non-criminal violations of law, such as certain classes of tr ...

to the offence charged in that indictment under section 6(2) of the

Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 The Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 (c 18) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes similar provision to the Criminal Law Act 1967 for Northern Ireland. Section 2 This section was repealed barticle 90(2)of, and Pa ...

. Sections 1(4) and (5) of the

Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which abolished the death penalty for murder in Northern Ireland, and established the Diplock courts in which terrorist offences were tried by ...

read:

Republic of Ireland

See sections 1(1)(b) and 3 of the

Criminal Justice Act 1964 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

(both of which are now repealed) and section 8 of the

Criminal Justice Act 1990 Capital punishment in the Republic of Ireland was abolished in statute law in 1990, having been abolished in 1964 for most offences including ordinary murder. The last person to be executed by the British state in Ireland was Robert McGladdery, ...

United States

Legal meaning

The term "capital murder" is used in only eight U.S. states; however, 27 states and

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

currently allow capital punishment, and each has its own terminology for an offence punishable by death. In most states, the term "first-degree murder" is used; others may use the term "aggravated murder" (such as New York, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia (since 2021)), and some use simply "murder". The seven states that use the term "capital murder" are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Texas. The state of Georgia uses the term "malicious murder". Not all offenses are parallel between the states. In some,

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially t ...

is a very broad term defined by a number of circumstances, only a few of which make a defendant eligible for execution. In other jurisdictions, an offense carrying the death penalty is strictly defined and is separate from other, similar crimes. Although legal definitions vary, capital murder in the United States usually means murder involving one or more of the following factors: * The victim is a police officer, firefighter, paramedic or similar public safety professional and was killed while on duty * The victim is killed during the commission of another violent felony, such as armed robbery, kidnapping, arson, etc. (

felony murder The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony i ...

) * The victim is tortured, raped or sexually assaulted, particularly if the victim is a child * Multiple murders are committed pursuant to one another *

Murder-for-hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

* Terrorism * The victim is murdered based on race, national origin, and other associated groups * The victim is a witness to a crime Some states may include other factors which amount to capital murder or its legal equivalent.

Punishment

Capital offenses in the United States are not punishable by death exclusively. Most states afford courts the option of imposing either the death penalty or a life sentence upon conviction, though lesser sentences are rare and in some cases legally impossible. Depending on the state, the presiding judge may determine the sentence, or the decision may be left to the jury. The United States Supreme Court has placed limitations on the use of the death penalty and has prohibited its use in cases where the offender is mentally incompetent, or was under the age of 18 at the time of the offense.

References

{{History of English criminal law Crimes Murder in the United Kingdom Murder in the United States Murder in the Republic of Ireland Capital punishment in the United Kingdom