Manslaughter – essence, types, penalties, and defense
According to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ dictionary of the Bulgarian language, the word “murder” means “the violent taking of a person’s life.” This is precisely what the word is associated with in everyday speech—violence.
However, in the sense of criminal law, murder is not always accompanied by violence. It is possible for a person’s life to be taken without the perpetrator intending to cause death. That is why, in this respect, the Criminal Code is much more precise when defining the meaning of the word, stating that murder occurs when someone causes the death of another person.
Depending on whether the perpetrator intended to cause the death of the victim or not, several types of murder are distinguished:
- intentional killing;
- murder committed in a state of intense irritation provoked by the victim;
- murder through negligence;
- murder in excess of the limits of self-defense
- murder through negligence;
- murder through negligence after intentionally inflicting bodily harm.
A case from the law firm
Petya* is a mother of two infants and a housewife. Her husband works 12-hour shifts, sometimes even 15-hour shifts, to support the family and is not at home during the day. The family lives in a trailer because they do not have sufficient financial resources and cannot afford to own or rent a home. The electrical system in the trailer often malfunctions and short circuits, leading to power outages.
Due to her husband’s busy schedule, Petya often has to quickly pop out to the nearby store, leaving the children alone for a few minutes. It is during one of Petya’s trips to the store that another short circuit occurs, which this time does not simply lead to a power outage. A fire breaks out and spreads so quickly that in a short time the entire caravan is engulfed in flames.
Petya returns at a moment when the entire caravan is on fire and attempts to enter to save the children. Her attempt is stopped by neighbors, who pull her back seconds before she enters the burning caravan. Petya faints from the shock.
As a result of smoke inhalation and burns, both of her children died.
Petya is charged with manslaughter. The prosecution argues that although she did not want her children to die, given that she knew about the damage to the electrical network, she could and should have foreseen that a fire could break out in which the children would die.
* In order to preserve attorney-client privilege, the name has been changed.
Murder by negligence – penalties and defense
Negligent homicide occurs when the perpetrator does not intend to cause the death of the victim.
In the first variant of committing murder through negligence, the perpetrator may not have foreseen the possibility of death occurring, but he was obliged and could have a18> foresee it according to the specific circumstances of the case. In this case, there is evidence of negligence.
In the second variant of manslaughter, the perpetrator, although anticipating the possibility of death, believed that he could prevent it. In this case, there is a manifestation of overconfidence.
In the ordinary case of manslaughter, the Criminal Code provides for a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years. If there are multiple or exceptional mitigating circumstances, imprisonment may be replaced by probation. Such a circumstance would exist, for example, if the perpetrator did everything possible to save the victim’s life.
IMPORTANT! In this case the law does not allow resolution of the case by means of a plea bargain with the prosecutor. a8> agreement with the prosecutor. It is possible, however, the case to be heard under the procedure of abbreviated judicial proceedings and if the defendant admits the facts, on the basis of which he is charged, the court determines the punishment for the crime committed and reduces it by 1/3.
If a prison sentence of up to three years is imposed and the perpetrator has a clean criminal record, a suspended sentence may be imposed. The severity of the punishment is determined for each specific case according to the facts of the case, and the involvement of a good criminal defense lawyer may result in an acquittal or a lighter sentence.
In cases of manslaughter, it is not possible to be exempted from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty.
In addition to classic manslaughter, the law also provides for more severely punishable cases of this crime. The punishment is
As regards the means of defense in cases of charges brought under the aggravated form of manslaughter, they do not differ significantly from ordinary cases of this crime. The only difference is that when death is caused by a firearm, a potent poisonous substance, or to two or more persons, it is not possible to replace the prescribed penalty of “imprisonment” with probation. However, it is possible to obtain a suspended sentence.
Murder due to negligence after inflicting bodily harm – penalties and defense
This type of crime is usually committed as a result of assault. It is significantly more severely punishable than ordinary manslaughter. This is because, even though the perpetrator did not intend to cause the death of the victim, they nevertheless consciously caused harm to their health.
For more information on the types of bodily injury, please refer to the article “Bodily injury in assault”.
As well as ordinary murder due to negligence, so and causing death after inflicting assault can be a11> be committed in two variants. In both cases, the perpetrator aims to directly harm the health of the victim, but not the taking of his life.
In the first case, the perpetrator does not anticipate at all that by beating the victim, he may cause his death. However, given the circumstances, he could and should have made such an anticipation.
In the second case, the perpetrator anticipates that the beating may result in the death of the victim, but believes that he can prevent such an outcome.
The penalties provided for in the law for manslaughter as a result of intentional bodily harm vary depending on the type of injury caused. Thus, when death has occurred as a result of intentional grievous bodily harm, the penalty is imprisonment for a term of three to twenty years, and in the case of moderate bodily harm – imprisonment for a term of two to eight years.
In both cases, even if there are numerous or exceptional mitigating circumstances, it is not possible to replace the specified penalty of “imprisonment” with “probation.” However, it is possible to impose a suspended sentence if the court imposes a sentence of up to three years and the perpetrator has a clean criminal record or has been rehabilitated. As in the ordinary case of manslaughter, the severity of the sentence is determined by the circumstances of the case, and the involvement of a good criminal defense lawyer may result in an acquittal or a lower sentence.
In cases where the death of the victim has occurred as a result of intentionally inflicted minor bodily injury injury, the punishment is deprivation of liberty for up to five years. In this case, it is possible in the presence of multiple or a25> exceptional mitigating circumstances responsibility, deprivation of liberty shall be replaced by probation.
The Criminal Code provides both for – minor punishable, as well as more serious punishable cases of this crime.
Cases of manslaughter after intentional bodily harm exceeding the limits of self-defense are punished more leniently, the punishment is imprisonment for up to five years for grievous bodily harm, up to four years for moderate bodily harm, and up to two years for minor bodily harm.
IMPORTANT! Self-defense is present when the defender inflicts harm on the attacker to the extent necessary to repel the latter’s unlawful attack. Exceeding the limits of self-defense occurs when the harm inflicted is greater than that necessary to repel the attack.
A lighter punishment is imposed for manslaughter after bodily harm has been inflicted, when the beating was carried out in a state of extreme irritation provoked by the victim. However, the victim’s behavior is not always an excuse for assaulting their health and physical integrity. In order to obtain a lighter punishment, it is necessary that the person whose death was caused by negligence after the beating inflicted serious insult or slander on the perpetrator, or committed another unlawful act that caused actual or potential serious consequences for the perpetrator or his relatives.
Whether there is “serious insult”, “serious defamation” or “unlawful action with serious consequences” is assessed after a detailed examination of the circumstances of the specific case.
For this type of crime, the punishment is imprisonment for up to five years for serious bodily injury, imprisonment for up to three years for moderate bodily harm, and imprisonment for up to two years for minor bodily harm. In this case, replacing the punishment of “imprisonment” with “probation” and obtaining a suspended sentence are also among the possibilities for defense.
IMPORTANT! In no case involving a crime that has resulted in death is it possible to exempt the perpetrator from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty or to conclude the case with a settlement agreement.
It is possible that the bodily injury, which subsequently led to the death of the victim, constitutes a dangerous recurrence. In this case, the punishment is
IMPORTANT! In the event that the crime was committed under the conditions of dangerous recidivism, achieving a conditional conviction is also impossible. Dangerous recidivism is present when:
- the perpetrator caused bodily harm after being sentenced to an effective term of imprisonment of not less than one year for an intentional crime committed by him, which according to the law is punishable by more than 5 years’ imprisonmentor
- the perpetrator caused bodily harm after having been convicted two or more times of intentional crimes of a general nature and having served at least part of the sentence in prison.
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You can find more interesting cases from the firm’s practice in the “Criminal Law” section.
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