Malice murder

Malice murder is a criminal offense in the US state of Georgia, committed when a homicide is done with express or implied malice.

Not to be confused with Felony murder.

Definition

Express malice is "that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof." Malice is implied when "no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart."[1]

Examples

Justin Ross Harris of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted in November 2016 of malice murder in the June 2014 death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper. Prosecutors argued that unhappily married and wanting an escape from family life, he intentionally killed his son by leaving him for about seven hours in the back seat of his vehicle outside the suburban Atlanta office in which he worked. Temperatures in the Atlanta area that day reached at least into the high 80s. Investigators found evidence that he was engaging in online flirtations and in-person affairs with numerous women other than his wife, including a prostitute and an underage teenager. Harris was found guilty of all eight counts against him. In addition to malice murder and felony murder charges, he was also found guilty of sending sexual text messages to a teenage girl and sending her nude photos.[2]

Kelly Gissendaner was found guilty of malice murder in 1998 and executed in 2015,[3] and members of the FEAR terrorist group were charged with it in 2012.[4] One of the murderers of Richard T. Davis was convicted of malice murder in 2004,[5] as was Melissa Leslie Burgeson, an associate of Timothy Carr.[6] Stephen Anthony Mobley was guilty of both malice murder and felony murder.[7]

References
  1. 2014 Georgia Code, ยง 16-5-1 - Murder; malice murder; felony murder; murder in the second degree, from Law.Justia.com
  2. The Associated Press (2016-12-05). "Georgia Man Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Son's Death in Hot Car". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  3. Shapiro, Emily (September 30, 2015). "Kelly Gissendaner Executed in Georgia After Courts Deny Stay Requests". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  4. Bluestein, Greg (2011-12-13). "4 soldiers charged in Ga. killings | The Augusta Chronicle". Chronicle.augusta.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  5. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20090509041221/http://www.gasupreme.us/pdf/s07a1456.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "364 F3d 1246 Carr v. Schofield". OpenJurist. 2004-03-31. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  7. "Attorney General Baker Announces Execution Date for Stephen Anthony Mobley | AGO". Law.ga.gov. 2005-02-11. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
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