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Voluntary Manslaughter is the intentional killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion", under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation it is referred to as nonnegligent manslaughter.

Provocation consists of the reasons for which one person kills another. "Adequate" or "reasonable" provocation is what makes the difference between voluntary manslaughter and murder. According to the book Criminal Law Today, “provocation is said to be adequate if it would cause a reasonable person to lose self-control” ^[1] For example, if a man were to come home and find his wife in bed with another man and kill both of them in a jealous rage, this would be considered adequate provocation and thus voluntary manslaughter.

Voluntary Manslaughter is usually committed under one of the two states of mind, which are adequate cause and sudden passion. Adequate cause can be defined as “a cause that would commonly produce a degree of anger, rage, or terror in a person of ordinary temper, sufficient to render the mind of the defendant incapable of objective reflection.” ^[2] In other words adequate cause means an occurrence where the defendant is placed in a situation that makes them so furious that they go on to kill the victim. The key element, however, is that they do not even consider their actions and hence the element of premeditation is removed.

Sudden passion can be defined as “passion directly caused by and rising out of provocation by the victim or of another acting with the victim.” It is important to understand that “the passion arises at the time of the killing and is not solely the result of former provocation.” ^[2] This is where the behaviour of the victim provoked the killer to react in the heat of the moment and an unadulterated logical thought process is utterly absent. Thus, the killer behaves in a manner he might not ordinarily be expected to behave in. Examples include the murder of a family member or catching someone cheating on a spouse.

In some jurisdictions, malice can also be negated by imperfect self-defense. Self-defense is considered imperfect when the killer acted from his belief in the necessity for self-defense, but that belief was not reasonable under the circumstances. If the belief in self-defense were reasonable, then the killing would be considered justified and not unlawful. Where the belief is unreasonable, the homicide is considered to be voluntary manslaughter.

Intent to kill is normally present during a voluntary manslaughter, but is not required. Since most heat of passion and imperfect self-defense killings involve intent to kill, typically voluntary manslaughters involve intentional killings. However, there are occasions when intent to kill is not present, although malice is, such as, for example, where a person responds to oral provocation by engaging in physical altercation. The provocation is sufficient so that his response is justified. He intends only to beat up those who have teased him, but someone unfortunately dies. The crime is either voluntary manslaughter or second degree murder, depending on the jurisdiction.

According to the United States Sentencing Commission, a person found guilty of voluntary manslaughter could be sentenced to a maximum amount of 10 years. ^[3]

• Definition
• Manslaughter at FindLaw

1. ^ Schmalleger, Frank. (2006). Criminal law today: an introduction with capstone cases (p.302). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc..
2. ^ ^{a b} Schmalleger, Frank. (2006). Criminal law today: an introduction with capstone cases (p.303). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc..
3. ^ United States Sentencing Commission. (1997, November 13). 2A1.3 Voluntary Manslaughter 11/13/97. Retrieved November 1, 2005, from http://www.ussc.gov/agendas/11_13_97/PROBAT2.htm

• FreeAdvice.com. (1995). Voluntary Manslaughter - what is it?. Retrieved November 1, 2005, from [1]