Question

A mob enforcer shot a pawnshop owner in the kneecap, intending to put him in the hospital because he was not paying his protection fees to the mob. However, the pawnshop owner hit his head on the edge of the counter when he fell. He suffered a blood clot and died as a result. A statute in the jurisdiction provides that a criminal homicide constitutes murder in the first degree when it is committed by an intentional and premeditated killing, murder in the second degree when it is committed while the defendant is engaged in the commission of a dangerous felony, and murder in the third degree for all other types of murder at common law. Another statute provides that manslaughter is a killing in the heat of passion on adequate legal provocation or a killing caused by criminal negligence. The crimes below are listed in descending order of seriousness. If the enforcer is charged with the pawnshop owner's killing, what is the most serious crime for which he can be convicted?

Answer 1

Answer:

Murder in the second degree, because the killing occurred during the commission of the felony of assault with a deadly weapon.

Explanation:

When a murder is deemed as intentional and premeditated, then it means the accused actually wanted to take the life of the slain person and had planned the activity well ahead of time before carrying out the action. However, in this case, there isn't any evidence of premeditated shot. However, there is an act of felony in this case, whereby a mob assault a pawnshop owner for the payment of non-legal fees. This act of felony was then carried out with the use of a deadly weapon like a gun, when an assault is perpetrated with a weapon such as a gun, then the death of the victim is a distinct possibility.