Capital Murder

Murder Crimes:
Capital Murder

Capital murder is not, strictly speaking, a category of homicide, though it is often defined as such. Similar to Felony Murder, Capital Murder is only a subset of Murder in the First Degree. It applies whenever the prosecution is seeking the death penalty for a First-Degree Murder case.


For an in-depth explanation regarding First-Degree Murder, please click here.


As with any crime, it is important that you speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible so that you can discuss the specific facts of your case and determine what, if any, defenses apply. Also, given the time and extent of a murder investigation, you should consult with an attorney as soon as you know that you are being investigated in order to help you determine the proper steps to take throughout the investigation and so that you can ensure that any mistakes or missteps made by the police are quickly pointed out and that any subsequent evidence is suppressed immediately. Contact Lipp Law today for a free consultation to discuss your case and your rights.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • How does Capital Murder work?

    Capital Murder is essentially any First-Degree Murder case where the prosecution seeks the Death Penalty. After someone has been convicted of First-Degree Murder, their penalty will then be decided by the jury. In making this determination, the jury will look at both the aggravating factors, and the mitigating factors. If the jury determines that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors, and that they make the crime worthy of the death penalty, then they can impose the death penalty.


    Please Note: Just because the jury finds that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors does not mean that the jury is required to impose the death penalty.

  • What are “aggravating” factors?

    Essentially, “aggravating factors” are circumstances of the crime that raise the maximum punishment. In the case of Murder in the First Degree, they raise the maximum punishment from Life in Prison, to the possibility of the death penalty.


    There are number of different factors that can “aggravate” your sentence:


    If the murder was committed during the commission of one of the following crimes and you either meant to kill the victim, or knew that death was likely to occur from your actions. The crimes that apply are:

    • Robbery;
    • Burglary;
    • Home Invasion;
    • First-Degree Arson; or
    • First-Degree Kidnapping.

    If the murder was committed while you were under a sentence for conviction or a crime, whether you are in prison or out on parole;


    If you knowingly or intentionally created a risk of death to others at the time of the murder;


    If you committed the murder in order to prevent an arrest or to escape custody;


    If the murder was committed in exchange for pay (monetary or otherwise);


    If the murder victim was a law enforcement officer or firefighter engaged in their official duties. It is important that you either knew or should have known that the victim was an officer or firefighter at the time of the murder;


    If the victim was tortured or mutilated prior in addition to being killed (Please Note: Mutilation does not have to occur prior to the murder to apply as an aggravating factor);


    If the killing was random, and there was more than one killing;


    If the murder was of a person younger than 14 years old;


    If the murder was a hate-crime based on race, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation;


    If the murder occurred in the process of, or as a part of, a rape or attempted rape;


    If the murder took place on school property, or at a school function or activity, and there was an intent to create a great risk of injury or death to multiple people;


    If the murder was committed as an act of terrorism.


    If any of the above circumstances applies to your case, then you may be facing “capital murder” charges, and you should speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.


    However, just as there are “aggravating factors” to a murder, there are equivalent “mitigating factors” that can lower the sentence you may be facing.


  • What are “mitigating” factors?

    Just as there are “aggravating factors” to a murder, there are equivalent “mitigating factors” that can lower the sentence you may be facing.


    In many cases, there are circumstances that can help to lower the maximum penalty that you will be facing.


    • You had no criminal history prior to the murder;
    • You were under an extreme mental disorder at the time of the murder (this generally applies when you were under a delusion or some sort of mental disorder that affects your ability to sufficiently understand the consequences of your actions);
    • You were under extreme duress, or were forced to kill by another person;
    • You were very young at the time of the murder (generally, this applies when you were young enough that you could not fully understand the consequences of your actions);
    • You were the victim of a poor, usually abusive, childhood;
    • Any other facts or circumstances that could give the jury reason to be lenient on you during the penalty phase of a trial.

    Generally speaking, in a Capital Murder case (and, to a lesser extent, in any homicide case), the prosecutor will seek the maximum possible penalty, and your attorney will use any and all possible mitigating factors to convince the jury to impose a lesser sentence.

  • So, the Death Penalty is not automatically imposed on Defendants convicted of First-Degree Murder?

    No. There are two requirements to imposing the death penalty in a First-Degree Murder case. The four requirements to a jury imposing the death penalty: (1) the prosecution must be seeking the death penalty (it is not uncommon for someone to plead guilty to First-Degree Murder, in exchange for the prosecution not seeking the death penalty; if the prosecution does not seek the death penalty, the jury cannot impose the death penalty); (2) The defendant must be found guilty; (3) there must be enough aggravating factors present to outweigh any mitigating factors; and (4) the jury must unanimously agree to impose the death penalty.


    The Jury is never required to impose the death penalty, they always have the discretion to determine if it is appropriate based on the circumstances.


  • Are there cases where the Prosecution cannot seek the Death Penalty?

    Yes. There are two situations where even a defendant already convicted of First-Degree Murder cannot be charged with the death penalty:


    • When the defendant is under 18 years of age; and
    • When the defendant is mentally handicapped.

  • What happens if I manage to avoid the death penalty, but have been convicted of First-Degree Murder?

    If the jury convicts you of First-Degree Murder, but declines to impose the death penalty, there are 3 possible remaining penalties:


    • Life in Prison in a Nevada State Prison, without the possibility of parole;
    • Life in Prison in a Nevada State Prison, with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years has been served; or
    • A definite sentence of 50 years in a Nevada State Prison, with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years has been served.

    The jury will have the discretion to impose any of the three penalties based on their determination of the aggravating and mitigating factors.


Penalties

What you need to know

Okay, so what are the penalties?


Since Capital Murder is a subset of Murder in the First Degree, facing a Capital Murder charge means facing the Death Penalty. If Death penalty is avoided, here are other potential penalties of First Degree Murder:

Murder in the First Degree has 4 possible sentences:


  • Death;
  • Life in Prison in a Nevada State Prison, without the possibility of parole;
  • Life in Prison in a Nevada State Prison, with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years has been served; or
  • A definite sentence of 50 years in a Nevada State Prison, with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years has been served.

Since there are four possible penalties, how is the penalty determined?


The jury will decide on what sentence is imposed after they have determined that the accused is guilty.


Please Note: The death penalty can only be imposed if there are aggravating factors and the jury decides that those aggravating factors outweigh any mitigating factors.


The jury will listen to all of the aggravating and mitigating factors that are presenting and will determine the appropriate sentence based on those factors, as well as the facts and circumstances of the crime.

Murder in the Second Degree is also a category A felony, like Murder in the First Degree. However, the penalties are not quite as severe.


There are two possible sentences for Murder in the Second Degree:


  • Life with the possibility of parole, with eligibility for parole after serving a minimum of 10 years;
  • For a definite term of 25 years, with eligibility for parole after serving a minimum of 10 years.

As with the penalties for Murder in the First Degree, the jury has the discretion to determine what sentence to impose based on any possible mitigating factors.

Defense

We at LippLaw are dedicated to giving you the best defense for your case.

Are there any defenses?


Since Capital Murder applies to the sentencing of a First Degree Murder charge, there only way two ways defend against Capital Murder: (1) don’t get convicted of the underlying First-Degree Murder charge; or (2) give the jury a reason to vote against the death penalty.


If you are unable to defend against the First-Degree Murder charge, then you have to rely on convincing the jury not to impose the death penalty. As mentioned above, this will require that you convince at least one juror that the mitigating factors in your case outweigh the aggravating factors. Remember, in order to impose the death penalty, the vote must be unanimous.


There are, of course defenses to the First-Degree Murder charge:

Self-Defense

Self-defense is not an automatic defense to a murder charge. There are three elements to a proper claim of self-defense: The amount of force used must have been reasonable, and must have been, in response to an immediate, and substantial bodily harm. If your attorney cannot show that all three elements existed, then your self-defense claim will fail. However, if all three elements existed, then the murder charges against you should be dropped

Police Mistake or Misconduct

Investigating a murder charge is a long, slow, and extensive process. During that process it is not uncommon for law enforcement officers to make mistakes. When the police, or other law enforcement agency, violated your rights through an improper search, illegal seizure, or the mishandling of evidence, then all of the evidence either gained thereby or mishandled may be suppressed, or thrown out. Getting evidence suppressed can lead to the charges being dropped or dismissed if it means that there is not enough admissible evidence to convict you.

Insufficient Evidence

In order to be convicted, the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you are guilty. In order to meet this burden, the prosecution must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. This is an incredibly high standard to meet. If your attorney can cast doubt on the prosecution’s case, or on anyone of the specific elements, then the charges against you should not stand.

What should I do if I've been charged with Capital Murder?


Because of the nature of the charges, it is important that you have an experienced attorney to help you as soon as possible. You will need to discuss the specifics of your case so that your attorney can try to firmly establish any defenses and mitigating factors that may benefit your case.

THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL REFERENCE PURPOSES AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A GUIDE TO YOUR SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.

Related Laws

Laws as defined by the NRS and explanations

Crimes Against the Person - Homicide

  • NRS 200.010 - “Murder” defined

    Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being:

          1.  With malice aforethought, either express or implied;

          2.  Caused by a controlled substance which was sold, given, traded or otherwise made available to a person in violation of chapter 453 of NRS; or

          3.  Caused by a violation of NRS 453.3325.

     ->   The unlawful killing may be effected by any of the various means by which death may be occasioned.

  • NRS 200.020 - Malice: Express and implied defined

          1.  Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature, which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof.

          2.  Malice shall be implied when no considerable provocation appears, or when all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.

  • NRS 200.030 - Degrees of murder; penalties

          1.  Murder of the first degree is murder which is:

                (a) Perpetrated by means of poison, lying in wait or torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing;

                (b) Committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, robbery, burglary, invasion of the home, sexual abuse of a child, sexual molestation of a child under the age of 14 years, child abuse or abuse of an older person or vulnerable person pursuant to NRS 200.5099;

                (c) Committed to avoid or prevent the lawful arrest of any person by a peace officer or to effect the escape of any person from legal custody;

                (d) Committed on the property of a public or private school, at an activity sponsored by a public or private school or on a school bus while the bus was engaged in its official duties by a person who intended to create a great risk of death or substantial bodily harm to more than one person by means of a weapon, device or course of action that would normally be hazardous to the lives of more than one person; or

                (e) Committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an act of terrorism.

          2.  Murder of the second degree is all other kinds of murder.

          3.  The jury before whom any person indicted for murder is tried shall, if they find the person guilty thereof, designate by their verdict whether the person is guilty of murder of the first or second degree.

          4.  A person convicted of murder of the first degree is guilty of a category A felony and shall be punished:

                (a) By death, only if one or more aggravating circumstances are found and any mitigating circumstance or circumstances which are found do not outweigh the aggravating circumstance or circumstances, unless a court has made a finding pursuant to NRS 174.098 that the defendant is a person with an intellectual disability and has stricken the notice of intent to seek the death penalty; or

                (b) By imprisonment in the state prison:

                      (1) For life without the possibility of parole;

                      (2) For life with the possibility of parole, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 20 years has been served; or

                      (3) For a definite term of 50 years, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 20 years has been served.

      ->   A determination of whether aggravating circumstances exist is not necessary to fix the penalty at imprisonment for life with or without the possibility of parole.

          5.  A person convicted of murder of the second degree is guilty of a category A felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison:

                (a) For life with the possibility of parole, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 10 years has been served; or

                (b) For a definite term of 25 years, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 10 years has been served.

          6.  As used in this section:

                (a) “Act of terrorism” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4415;

                (b) “Child abuse” means physical injury of a nonaccidental nature to a child under the age of 18 years;

                (c) “School bus” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 483.160;

                (d) “Sexual abuse of a child” means any of the acts described in NRS 432B.100; and

                (e) “Sexual molestation” means any willful and lewd or lascivious act, other than acts constituting the crime of sexual assault, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child under the age of 14 years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desires of the perpetrator or of the child.

  • NRS 200.033 - Circumstances aggravating first degree murder

    The only circumstances by which murder of the first degree may be aggravated are:

          1.  The murder was committed by a person under sentence of imprisonment.

          2.  The murder was committed by a person who, at any time before a penalty hearing is conducted for the murder pursuant to NRS 175.552, is or has been convicted of:

                (a) Another murder and the provisions of subsection 12 do not otherwise apply to that other murder; or

                (b) A felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person of another and the provisions of subsection 4 do not otherwise apply to that felony.

      ->   For the purposes of this subsection, a person shall be deemed to have been convicted at the time the jury verdict of guilt is rendered or upon pronouncement of guilt by a judge or judges sitting without a jury.

          3.  The murder was committed by a person who knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person by means of a weapon, device or course of action which would normally be hazardous to the lives of more than one person.

          4.  The murder was committed while the person was engaged, alone or with others, in the commission of, or an attempt to commit or flight after committing or attempting to commit, any robbery, arson in the first degree, burglary, invasion of the home or kidnapping in the first degree, and the person charged:

                (a) Killed or attempted to kill the person murdered; or

                (b) Knew or had reason to know that life would be taken or lethal force used.

          5.  The murder was committed to avoid or prevent a lawful arrest or to effect an escape from custody.

          6.  The murder was committed by a person, for himself or herself or another, to receive money or any other thing of monetary value.

          7.  The murder was committed upon a peace officer or firefighter who was killed while engaged in the performance of his or her official duty or because of an act performed in his or her official capacity, and the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the victim was a peace officer or firefighter. For the purposes of this subsection, “peace officer” means:

                (a) An employee of the Department of Corrections who does not exercise general control over offenders imprisoned within the institutions and facilities of the Department, but whose normal duties require the employee to come into contact with those offenders when carrying out the duties prescribed by the Director of the Department.

                (b) Any person upon whom some or all of the powers of a peace officer are conferred pursuant to NRS 289.150 to 289.360, inclusive, when carrying out those powers.

          8.  The murder involved torture or the mutilation of the victim.

          9.  The murder was committed upon one or more persons at random and without apparent motive.

          10.  The murder was committed upon a person less than 14 years of age.

          11.  The murder was committed upon a person because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of that person.

          12.  The defendant has, in the immediate proceeding, been convicted of more than one offense of murder in the first or second degree. For the purposes of this subsection, a person shall be deemed to have been convicted of a murder at the time the jury verdict of guilt is rendered or upon pronouncement of guilt by a judge or judges sitting without a jury.

          13.  The person, alone or with others, subjected or attempted to subject the victim of the murder to nonconsensual sexual penetration immediately before, during or immediately after the commission of the murder. For the purposes of this subsection:

                (a) “Nonconsensual” means against the victim’s will or under conditions in which the person knows or reasonably should know that the victim is mentally or physically incapable of resisting, consenting or understanding the nature of his or her conduct, including, but not limited to, conditions in which the person knows or reasonably should know that the victim is dead.

                (b) “Sexual penetration” means cunnilingus, fellatio or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the victim’s body or any object manipulated or inserted by a person, alone or with others, into the genital or anal openings of the body of the victim, whether or not the victim is alive. The term includes, but is not limited to, anal intercourse and sexual intercourse in what would be its ordinary meaning.

          14.  The murder was committed on the property of a public or private school, at an activity sponsored by a public or private school or on a school bus while the bus was engaged in its official duties by a person who intended to create a great risk of death or substantial bodily harm to more than one person by means of a weapon, device or course of action that would normally be hazardous to the lives of more than one person. For the purposes of this subsection, “school bus” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 483.160.

          15.  The murder was committed with the intent to commit, cause, aid, further or conceal an act of terrorism. For the purposes of this subsection, “act of terrorism” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 202.4415.

  • NRS 200.035 - Circumstances mitigating first degree murder

    Murder of the first degree may be mitigated by any of the following circumstances, even though the mitigating circumstance is not sufficient to constitute a defense or reduce the degree of the crime:

          1.  The defendant has no significant history of prior criminal activity.

          2.  The murder was committed while the defendant was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance.

          3.  The victim was a participant in the defendant’s criminal conduct or consented to the act.

          4.  The defendant was an accomplice in a murder committed by another person and the defendant’s participation in the murder was relatively minor.

          5.  The defendant acted under duress or under the domination of another person.

          6.  The youth of the defendant at the time of the crime.

          7.  Any other mitigating circumstance.

  • NRS 200.040 - “Manslaughter” defined

          1.  Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being, without malice express or implied, and without any mixture of deliberation.

          2.  Manslaughter must be voluntary, upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a provocation apparently sufficient to make the passion irresistible, or involuntary, in the commission of an unlawful act, or a lawful act without due caution or circumspection.

          3.  Manslaughter does not include vehicular manslaughter as described in NRS 484B.657.

  • NRS 200.050 - “Voluntary manslaughter” defined

          1.  In cases of voluntary manslaughter, there must be a serious and highly provoking injury inflicted upon the person killing, sufficient to excite an irresistible passion in a reasonable person, or an attempt by the person killed to commit a serious personal injury on the person killing.

          2.  Voluntary manslaughter does not include vehicular manslaughter as described in NRS 484B.657.

  • NRS 200.060 - When killing punished as murder

    The killing must be the result of that sudden, violent impulse of passion supposed to be irresistible; for, if there should appear to have been an interval between the assault or provocation given and the killing, sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, the killing shall be attributed to deliberate revenge and punished as murder.

  • NRS 200.070 - “Involuntary manslaughter” defined

          1.  Except under the circumstances provided in NRS 484B.550 and 484B.653, involuntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being, without any intent to do so, in the commission of an unlawful act, or a lawful act which probably might produce such a consequence in an unlawful manner, but where the involuntary killing occurs in the commission of an unlawful act, which, in its consequences, naturally tends to destroy the life of a human being, or is committed in the prosecution of a felonious intent, the offense is murder.

          2.  Involuntary manslaughter does not include vehicular manslaughter as described in NRS 484B.657.

  • NRS 200.080 - Punishment for voluntary manslaughter

    A person convicted of the crime of voluntary manslaughter is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.

  • NRS 200.090 - Punishment for involuntary manslaughter

    A person convicted of involuntary manslaughter is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.

  • NRS 200.110 - Place of trial for homicide

          1.  If the injury be inflicted in one county, and the party die within another county, or without the State, the accused shall be tried in the county where the act was done, or the cause of death administered.

          2.  If the party killing shall be in one county, and the party killed in another county, at the time the cause of death shall be administered, the accused may be tried in either county.

  • NRS 200.120 - “Justifiable homicide” defined; no duty to retreat under certain circumstances

          1.  Justifiable homicide is the killing of a human being in necessary self-defense, or in defense of an occupied habitation, an occupied motor vehicle or a person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors to commit a crime of violence, or against any person or persons who manifestly intend and endeavor, in a violent, riotous, tumultuous or surreptitious manner, to enter the occupied habitation or occupied motor vehicle, of another for the purpose of assaulting or offering personal violence to any person dwelling or being therein.

          2.  A person is not required to retreat before using deadly force as provided in subsection 1 if the person:

                (a) Is not the original aggressor;

                (b) Has a right to be present at the location where deadly force is used; and

                (c) Is not actively engaged in conduct in furtherance of criminal activity at the time deadly force is used.

          3.  As used in this section:

                (a) “Crime of violence” means any felony for which there is a substantial risk that force or violence may be used against the person or property of another in the commission of the felony.

                (b) “Motor vehicle” means every vehicle which is self-propelled.

  • NRS 200.130 - Bare fear insufficient to justify killing; reasonable fear required; rebuttable presumption under certain circumstances

          1.  A bare fear of any of the offenses mentioned in NRS 200.120, to prevent which the homicide is alleged to have been committed, is not sufficient to justify the killing. It must appear that the circumstances were sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person and that the person killing really acted under the influence of those fears and not in a spirit of revenge.

          2.  There is a rebuttable presumption that the circumstances were sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person and that the person killing really acted under the influence of those fears and not in a spirit of revenge if the person killing:

                (a) Knew or reasonably believed that the person who was killed was entering unlawfully and with force, or attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the occupied habitation or occupied motor vehicle, of another;

                (b) Knew or reasonably believed that the person who was killed was committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence; and

                (c) Did not provoke the person who was killed.

          3.  As used in this section:

                (a) “Crime of violence” means any felony for which there is a substantial risk that force or violence may be used against the person or property of another in the commission of the felony.

                (b) “Motor vehicle” means every vehicle which is self-propelled.

  • NRS 200.140 - Justifiable homicide by peace officer

          1.  Homicide is justifiable when committed by a peace officer, or person acting under the command and in the aid of the peace officer, in the following cases:

                (a) In obedience to the judgment of a competent court.

                (b) When necessary to overcome actual resistance to the execution of the legal process, mandate or order of a court or officer, or in the discharge of a legal duty.

                (c) When necessary:

                      (1) In retaking an escaped or rescued prisoner who has been committed, arrested for, or convicted of a felony;

                      (2) In attempting, by lawful ways or means and in accordance with the provisions of NRS 171.1455, to apprehend or arrest a person;

                      (3) In lawfully suppressing a riot or preserving the peace; or

                      (4) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 193.304, in protecting against an imminent threat to the life of a person.

          2.  As used in this section, “peace officer” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 169.125.

  • NRS 200.150 - Justifiable or excusable homicide

    All other instances which stand upon the same footing of reason and justice as those enumerated shall be considered justifiable or excusable homicide.

  • NRS 200.160 - Additional cases of justifiable homicide

    Homicide is also justifiable when committed:

          1.  In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her spouse, parent, child, brother or sister, or of any other person in his or her presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or

          2.  In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his or her presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode in which the slayer is.

  • NRS 200.170 - Burden of proving circumstances of mitigation or justifiable or excusable homicide

    The killing of the deceased named in the indictment or information by the defendant being proved, the burden of proving circumstances of mitigation, or that justify or excuse the homicide, will devolve on the accused, unless the proof on the part of the prosecution sufficiently manifests that the crime committed only amounts to manslaughter, or that the accused was justified, or excused in committing the homicide.

  • NRS 200.180 - Excusable homicide by misadventure

          1.  Excusable homicide by misadventure occurs when:

                (a) A person is doing a lawful act, without any intention of killing, yet unfortunately kills another, as where a person is at work with an ax and the head flies off and kills a bystander; or

                (b) An officer punishing a criminal happens to occasion death, which acts of correction are lawful.

          2.  If the officer exceeds the sentence under which the officer acts, either in the manner, the instrument, or quantity of punishment, and death ensues, it is manslaughter or murder, according to the circumstances of the case.

  • NRS 200.190 - Justifiable or excusable homicide not punishable

    The homicide appearing to be justifiable or excusable, the person indicted shall, upon trial, be fully acquitted and discharged.

  • NRS 200.200 - Killing in self-defense

    If a person kills another in self-defense, it must appear that:

          1.  The danger was so urgent and pressing that, in order to save the person’s own life, or to prevent the person from receiving great bodily harm, the killing of the other was absolutely necessary; and

          2.  The person killed was the assailant, or that the slayer had really, and in good faith, endeavored to decline any further struggle before the mortal blow was given.

  • NRS 200.210 - Killing of unborn quick child; penalty

    A person who willfully kills an unborn quick child, by any injury committed upon the mother of the child, commits manslaughter and shall be punished for a category B felony by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.

  • NRS 200.220 - Taking drugs to terminate pregnancy; penalty

    A woman who takes or uses, or submits to the use of, any drug, medicine or substance, or any instrument or other means, with the intent to terminate her pregnancy after the 24th week of pregnancy, unless the same is performed upon herself upon the advice of a physician acting pursuant to the provisions of NRS 442.250, and thereby causes the death of the child of the pregnancy, commits manslaughter and shall be punished for a category B felony by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.

  • NRS 200.230 - Death resulting from overloading of passenger vessel; penalties

    A person navigating a vessel for gain who willfully or negligently receives so many passengers or such a quantity of other lading on board that by means thereof the vessel sinks, is overset or injured, and thereby a human being is drowned or otherwise killed, commits manslaughter and shall be punished:

          1.  If the overloading is negligent, for a category D felony as provided in NRS 193.130.

          2.  If the overloading is willful, for a category B felony by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.

  • NRS 200.240 - Owner of animal that kills human being guilty of manslaughter under certain circumstances; penalty

    If the owner or custodian of any vicious or dangerous animal, knowing its propensities, willfully or negligently allows it to go at large, and the animal while at large kills a human being who is not in fault, the owner or custodian commits manslaughter and shall be punished for a category D felony as provided in NRS 193.130.

  • NRS 200.260 - Death resulting from unlawful manufacture or storage of explosives; penalty

    A person who makes or keeps gunpowder or any other explosive substance in a city or town in any quantity or manner prohibited by law or by ordinance of the municipality commits manslaughter if an explosion thereof occurs whereby the death of a human being is occasioned, and shall be punished for a category D felony as provided in NRS 193.130.

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