What do the different degrees of murder mean?

I like to watch Law and Order, and other crime shows and I allways hear murder in the 1st 2nd and 3rd degree just curious as to what it means.
Answers:
1st degree is pre-meditated, planned murder. It includes if you plan on walking into a store and robbing the place, and end up shooting the clerk.

2nd and 3rd degree/manslaughter are somewhat similar. 2nd degree is when when you kill someone, but did not plan on killing them... perhaps a bar fight, or an argument.

Third degree/manslaughter is more of an accident, but another crime was taking place, such as drunk driving, a fight, etc.

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mruder 1rst.you planned it out.and intended to kill someone

murder in the 3rd..you killed someone on the spur of the mometn with no intentions....you shot him in the stomache to injure him, and he ended up dieing.

the lower the degree, the less worse the crime is.a low degree is less serious than 1rst.but murder is serious no matter what

like your driving and hit somone on a accident.and they died in the hospital...thats murder but a low degree, and you didnt try to kill him on purpose.so they can drop it to a lower crime

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Its intention. If you planed a death, 1rst degree, if it was by passion, 2nd, if it was unintentionally, 3rd, and so on.

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direct murder meaning to, second by something you did not meaning to like a car wreck the third is most likely something you did that did kill them later days hours or weeks.

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Here 'ya go!
http://www.law.ua.edu/colquitt/crimmain/...

Hope that helps!

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It all depends on which country, but generally first degree is premeditated, second degree is intentional but unplanned (in a fit of rage, for instance) and third degree is what is referred to as manslaughter, which is killing accidentally. Since the penalties decrease for each degree, often a defense lawyer will plead guilty to a lesser crime (second degree instead of first, or third instead of first or second) to get his client a milder sentence.

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Three degrees:

1st--You wanted it done, you planned it be done, you got 'the hit' done.

2nd--Normally applies to assault/battery that leads to death. You killed them but you didn't mean it got done that way. "Manslaughter" is the PC term for this one. Best case scenario: "Involuntary Manslaughter" (where someone else gets blame, but you still were involved).

3rd-The devil made you do it. "Insanity" defense. Long shot in the dark. If you win this one, you spend time at a "Daisy Hills Mental Hospital" instead of being some hairy, sweaty prison convict's bride.

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Although it differs from state to state generally first degree murder is an intentional killing down with "premeditation and deliberation" now second degree murder could be murder done with one of 3 mind states. Intentional murder without premeditation and deliberation, Killing where the actor does not intend on the death but knows to a substantial certainty that death will occur, and when the death occurs due to the extreme recklessness of defendant's action in which he shows an grave indifference to human life. Sometime this is murder 2 or murder 3. The other form of murder is a killing that is committed during the course of a dangerous felony. This could be murder 2 or 3 depending on the jurisdiction. Manslaughter is a lower form of homicide and generally will include voluntary manslaughter, which is a murder but for the fact the defendant is acting under extreme emotional disturtbance or thinks (incorrectly, but reasonably) he is acting in self defense. Involuntary Manslaughter is homicide that occurs due to the defendants reckless behavior or extremely negligent behavior.

Reckless behavior occurs when the defendant consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk, and that disregrard represents a gross deviation from that which a law abiding citizen would do in the same circumstance.

although the answers listed are genuine they are really not rooted in the law. the different degrees are all discriminated by the outward expressions of what was going on in the head of the defendant at the time of the killing.

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1st degree murder is premeditated.
2nd degree murder is unplanned but the murder was intended.
3rd degree murder is unplanned unintended.

Manslaughter is a lesser degree.