Law and Public Safety Education Network (LAPSEN) Practice Test

Intentional killing is murder. In criminal law, murder refers to causing the death of another person with the intent to do so (or with a malice aforethought, which can include premeditation in some cases). The emphasis is on the presence of a deliberate intent to end a life. Other terms describe different crimes: manslaughter covers killings without the specific intent to kill or with mitigating circumstances such as heat of passion; embezzlement involves stealing property that was entrusted to someone; petty theft is taking someone else’s property of low value. So when the act is driven by a conscious decision to end a life, the appropriate label is murder.