Murder / Manslaughter

Obviously the most serious criminal charge is murder. If you are convicted of murder, or attempted murder, you can be imprisoned for life, or even given the ultimate penalty - you could be put to death in some states. Often, a murder charge results from an unexpected set of circumstances. Perhaps the police arrested the wrong person. Perhaps you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps circumstances got out of control, and a tragic accident occurred. Perhaps you were forced to defend yourself and there was nothing else you could do.

Whatever happened, nothing more serious will occur in your life. The prosecution works its hardest on murder cases. They will interview witnesses, look for fingerprints, do ballistics analyses, have autopsy reports, and obtain all sorts of expert opinions. The full resources of the State will be against you. This is not a time to despair or hesitate - it is a time to defend yourself.

At Johnson Law Group, we know what it takes to mount a successful defense to a murder charge. Whether it is first, second or third degree murder - or, most seriously, capital murder - we will know what to do. We have our own investigators to interview witnesses. We have our own fingerprint analysts. We have access to our own experts to analyze the evidence and give opinions. We understand the gravity of the charge, and will treat the case with the resources and attention it deserves.

If you or a loved one have been charged with murder in Indiana, act immediately. Contact us at the Johnson Law Group, and have our aggressive and experienced attorneys handle your case.

Indiana Murder / Manslaughter Law

Murder in the First Degree

A person commits murder in the first degree when the person commits murder under any of the following circumstances:

1. The person willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation kills another person.

2. The person kills another person while participating in a forcible felony.

3. The person kills another person while escaping or attempting to escape from lawful custody.

4. The person intentionally kills a peace officer, correctional officer, public employee, or hostage while the person is imprisoned in a correctional institution under the jurisdiction of the Iowa department of corrections, or in a city or county jail.

5. The person kills a child while committing child endangerment under section 726.6, subsection 1, paragraph "b", or while committing assault under section 708.1 upon the child, and the death occurs under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life.

6. The person kills another person while participating in an act of terrorism as defined in section 708A.1.

Murder in the Second Degree

A person commits murder in the second degree when the person commits murder which is not murder in the first degree.

Voluntary Manslaughter

A person commits voluntary manslaughter when that person causes the death of another person, under circumstances which would otherwise be murder, if the person causing the death acts solely as the result of sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a person and there is not an interval between the provocation and the killing in which a person of ordinary reason and temperament would regain control and suppress the impulse to kill.

Voluntary manslaughter is an included offense under an indictment for murder in the first or second degree.

Involuntary Manslaughter

1. A person commits a class "D" felony when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of a public offense other than a forcible felony or escape.

2. A person commits an aggravated misdemeanor when the person unintentionally causes the death of another person by the commission of an act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury.

Involuntary manslaughter as defined in this section is an included offense under an indictment for murder in the first or second degree or voluntary manslaughter.