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In Europe it's a termed sentence I think 15-30 years incarceration....Norway the max sentence is 21 years
Talking about where there is a person who never committed a crime before, then shot/killed one innocent individual at random with full intent to commit the act...so on purpose ...nothing more
Then cooperates fully with authorities and confesses immediately and pleads guilty and apologizes and promises never ever to do this again and shows sorrow and emotion and even turned himself in. And guy's rationale is "was bored and it was a one-time ordeal" and though he planned this, didn't think before doing.
Case where the guilty defendant responds, "I knew the guy would die but it didn't occur to me how irreversible and unrepairable the deed was till after it was done, but before the deed was done there was full planned premeditated motive to do what was done. Was just bored and now this is worse than any boredom" ... And apologizes 2,000 times sobbing
Yes, killing just one person intentionally in the U. S., even if it is your first offense, can easily draw a life sentence. It is also possible, but not likely, to bring a death sentence.
Basically....
1st degree murder is usually life sentence or death penalty, depending on the plea.
2nd degree murder can be term or life depending on the circumstances.
Manslaughter can be anything from probation to a term sentence.
It depends on the situation. If there are aggravating circumstances, evidence of premeditation, if there was another felony attached to the crime (like rape or robbery), anything like that ups the sentencing guidelines. If it was an accidental shooting that would drop it. In my state, where there is no death penalty, you can still be considered for a death sentence if the shooting met the sentencing guidelines for that and happened on federal land, like a national park or an Indian reservation.
And the judge always has some wiggle room as far as scooting the penalty up or down.
SECTION 16-3-5. Person causing injury which results in death at least three years later not to be prosecuted for homicide.
A person who causes bodily injury which results in the death of the victim is not criminally responsible for the victim's death and must not be prosecuted for a homicide offense if at least three years intervene between the injury and the death of the victim.
The James Brady thing is horse-sh.. They classified his death as a homicide and were talking about going after Hinkley again for it.. That it complete and utter crap. I'm happy that SC has a law against it. Even though you leave a loophole of someone being shot, going into a vegetative state and dying 5 years later. The person has already been prosecuted (In theory) for shooting them.. If they die 20 years later, that person shouldn't them be charged with murder.. That's double jeopardy in my book.
Anyway, the least you can get here is 30 years for Murder. SC doesn't have 1st/second degree murder.. Premeditation is the key.. "Heat of the moment" goes down to manslaughter which gets 2 to 30.
In Europe it's a termed sentence I think 15-30 years incarceration....Norway the max sentence is 21 years
It varies widely.
Most murder cases are prosecuted by states, which each have their own guidelines. For example, a glance at this list shows that some states mandate life without parole as minimum sentence (Delaware, Florida, others) for first degree murder. In some states the minimum is as low as 10 years (Arkansas, Missouri, others) for first degree murder. In some states, the minimum for second degree murder is less than 10 years (in both Colorado and Virginia it is 5 years, for example).
It also varies with circumstances. Some people don't like to acknowledge this, but non-whites get harsher sentences than whites. And women get the death penalty far less of than men, per similar crime. Notorious cases receiving lots of press mean the individual will likely get a harsher sentence than a case which doesn't arouse much public interest.
Then there's plea deals - if a person has something to offer then can often parlay that into a reduced charge.
The situation is similar in Europe. Countries, not the EU (and all of Europe is not in the EU, anyway) handle criminal prosecutions for murder. Belarus, for example, continues to carry out the death penalty - the only country in Europe to do so. Russia allows for it, but an indefinite moratorium has been in place there since 1996 (though extrajudicial state killings do occur). Other countries offer life with the possibility of parole, but in many cases a particular individual will never be paroled.
As an aside, "killing someone" is not very specific. This runs the gamut from justifiable homicide (not a crime at all), or an accident (for example, if you kill someone by accident while hunting you may face a fine and other sanctions short of jail time) to manslaughter to capital murder. It's as much about the intent as the result.
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