Voluntary Manslaughter

Voluntary Manslaughter

Voluntary Manslaughter

Voluntary manslaughter is applicable when a person, under circumstances which could be considered to be murder, causes the death of another human being as a result of a spontaneous, uncontrollable reaction to a situation. A simple description of voluntary manslaughter would be a crime of passion.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Manslaughter

At a base level, the difference between voluntary vs involuntary manslaughter is very simple. The difference is intent. Did a person or did a person not intend to kill another person?

Voluntary Manslaughter - OCGA 16-5-2

  • (a) A person commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter when he causes the death of another human being under circumstances which would otherwise be murder and if he acts solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person; however, if there should have been an interval between the provocation and the killing sufficient for the voice of reason and humanity to be heard, of which the jury in all cases shall be the judge, the killing shall be attributed to deliberate revenge and be punished as murder.
  • (b) A person who commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years.

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