r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Glittery_WarlockWho • 26d ago

Why is Luigi Mangione potentially facing the death penalty for the murder of one person when other murderers with similar crimes get jain time?

Please no snarky comments of 'you know why' , 'it's because the guy was rich' etc... There HAS to be a reason why his crime is getting sentenced so heavily that doesn't have to do with the net worth of his victim, or at least I hope there is.

In my city, a drunk driver kills two people in a car and he's sentenced to jail for 20 years and gets out in 12 for good behaviour.

Luigi kills one man and is facing the death penalty?

I don't understand, he didn't kidnap, rape or torture, I've heard of murderers who rape and murder their victims get sentenced to jail.

24.0k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.0k

u/Mammoth-Mud-9609 26d ago

The issue of death penalty only comes up in cases of premeditated murder, where the murder was deliberate and planned in advance.

141

u/MagicGrit 26d ago

Premeditated does not necessarily mean “planned in advance.”

It means that the perpetrator knows what they are doing, and has enough time to stop and think that what they are doing is purposefully killing another person. It doesn’t mean they sat at home and drew up plans to do it.

16

u/whiskeytango55 26d ago

Isnt that malice of forethought?

15

u/winsluc12 26d ago

*Aforethought

2

u/whiskeytango55 26d ago

For all intensive purposes,  doesn't it mean the same thing?

/s

11

u/MagicGrit 26d ago

Malice aforethough has to do with intent I believe. Premeditation is moreso about having the time to realize what you’re doing. The alternative is if you’re in a fight and your opponent is killed during the fight. Or you’re just in a blind rage and act without thinking or realizing what’s happening (I think. I’m not a lawyer).

2

u/whiskeytango55 26d ago

Yeah, a bar fight would be manslaughter. 

Its things like this that determine murder and to what degree

3

u/Patient_End_8432 26d ago

Walking in on a cheating spouse and killing one or both would be argued as a crime of passion and be 2nd or 3rd degree right?

5

u/tururut_tururut 26d ago

IIRC, just going to another room to grab a weapon would invalidate being considered a crime of passion, as it means you knew that what you were doing meant killing them and did it all the same.

2

u/gsfgf 26d ago

Degrees vary heavily by state. In my state, second degree murder is solely when child abuse results in a death. Basically, if you accidentally beat a child to death, you get out after 30 years, while life and death are available sentences for any other murder.

2

u/Patient_End_8432 26d ago

Kinda fucked that killing a kid gets you less time

4

u/gsfgf 26d ago

It's the lack of intent to kill that's relevant. If you intentionally kill a kid, it's regular murder.

2

u/Efishrocket102 26d ago

In Canada at least it would be second degree murder because you intended to kill them but you didn’t premeditate. We don’t have third degree per say but we just use manslaughter, which is killing someone through criminal negligence on your part such as purposely tossing a brick off a roof and hitting someone or pointing an gun you thought was empty at someone and pulling the trigger.

1

u/gsfgf 26d ago

Malice aforethough has to do with intent I believe

Correct. That's the actual legal standard.