Article 210 — Criminal Homicide

MPC § 210.1: Criminal Homicide

Quick Answer

What does Criminal Homicide (Model Penal Code) provide?

Section 210.1 provides the overarching definition of criminal homicide under the Model Penal Code. A person is guilty of criminal homicide if they purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently cause the death of another human being. Criminal homicide is classified as murder, manslaughter, or negligent homicide — three degrees rather than the common law's more variable categorization.

Source: Model Penal Code § 210.1

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Summary

This tripartite structure represents a significant simplification from common law homicide, which used categories like first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and in some jurisdictions, additional categories. The MPC collapses these into murder (Section 210.2), manslaughter (Section 210.3), and negligent homicide (Section 210.4), graded as a felony of the first degree, second degree, and third degree respectively.

Section 210.1(2) specifies that criminal homicide is murder when committed purposely or knowingly, or when committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. The section then cross-references Sections 210.2 through 210.4 for the specific grading rules. The overarching principle is that all criminal homicide requires at least negligence — purely accidental killings (where the actor was not even negligent) do not constitute criminal homicide under the MPC.

Key Provisions

4 essential provisions of § 210.1

Criminal homicide is purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently causing the death of another human being

Three categories: murder (first-degree felony), manslaughter (second-degree felony), and negligent homicide (third-degree felony)

Purely accidental killings (no negligence) are not criminal homicide

The section establishes the framework that Sections 210.2-210.4 elaborate upon

MPC vs. Common Law

How the MPC approach to criminal homicide differs from common law

Common law homicide had a more complex grading structure. Most jurisdictions divided murder into first degree (premeditated, deliberate, or felony murder) and second degree (everything else), and manslaughter into voluntary (heat of passion) and involuntary (criminal negligence or unlawful act). Some added separate categories like vehicular homicide or feticide. The MPC simplifies this into three clean categories defined by culpability levels. The MPC also eliminates the degree structure for murder — there is just "murder," which encompasses what common law treated as both first- and second-degree murder. The MPC further eliminates the common law's "year and a day" rule (requiring death within a year and a day of the defendant's act) and applies its general causation principles instead.

Exam Relevance

How § 210.1 appears on criminal law exams

Section 210.1 itself is usually a starting point rather than a standalone exam topic. However, students must understand the tripartite framework to properly grade any homicide question under the MPC. When analyzing a killing on an exam, the structure should be: (1) Is this criminal homicide at all? (Was the killing at least negligent?) (2) Is it murder? (Purpose, knowledge, or extreme recklessness under Section 210.2) (3) Is it manslaughter? (Recklessness, or extreme emotional disturbance reducing murder under Section 210.3) (4) Is it negligent homicide? (Negligence under Section 210.4). Professors expect students to work through this hierarchy systematically.