Understanding Criminal Law: Homicide, Manslaughter, Suicide
Criminal Law: Article 121
Killing Someone
Penalty: Imprisonment for 6 to 20 years.
Privileged Murder (Reduced Sentence)
- Relevant moral or social value
- Overwhelming emotion immediately following an unjust provocation by the victim.
Cases that Increase the Penalty
Author is the one executing the offense. A co-author is present at the crime scene and is involved in some way.
Causal link: The action must result in death for the crime of murder to be consummated.
Crime: Involves costumes and is antijuridical.
Sentence Reduction (Preferred): If the agent commits a crime motivated by a moral value (personal interest) or social value (collective interest), or under the influence of violent emotion after unjust provocation by the victim.
Euthanasia: Good death, peaceful death. In Brazil, it is considered a privileged crime.
Dysthanasia: Suffering death, prolonging the person’s life. Not a crime.
Orthotanasia: Natural death. Not a crime.
Murder: Refer to Article 121.
Base Reasons: Those that cause revulsion in society, leaving people aghast.
Trivial Reason: Insignificant motive.
Killing someone using poison, fire, explosives, suffocation, torture, or other insidious (covert) or cruel means, or that may result in common danger, is considered qualified.
Murder
Reasons: I and II (e.g., futile motive)
Means: III (e.g., poison)
Mode: IV (e.g., ambush)
When there is more than one qualifier, one is used to describe the crime, and the other to aggravate it.
Purpose: V (e.g., concealing another crime)
All are present in Article 121 of the Brazilian Penal Code.
Manslaughter
- Recklessness
- Negligence
- Malpractice
- Increased penalty
- Judicial pardon
- Extravagant legislation
- ECA (Child and Adolescent Statute), CTB (Brazilian Traffic Code), heinous crimes, torture.
Suicide (Article 122)
Induce: Suggest the act.
Instigate: Enhance an existing idea.
Provide assistance: Supply the means.
The victim must be capable of understanding; otherwise, it is considered murder (e.g., a mentally ill person or a child).
Infanticide (Article 123)
Specific Crime: Committed by the mother.
Puerperal State: The specific postpartum state of the mother.
Timing: When it occurs.
Soon after: At the judge’s discretion, depending on the medical report.
The baby must have breathed (perform a necropsy).
Puerperal state examination (corpus delicti).
Abortion (Articles 124-128)
Destruction of the product of conception at any stage.
1st month: Ovum
1st to 3rd month: Embryo
4th month onwards: Fetus
Types of Abortion
Spontaneous: Not a crime.
Accidental: Not a crime.
Eugenic: Matters of criminal law.
Budgetary: To avoid overpopulation, etc.
Aesthetic: To avoid harming beauty, etc.
Necessary (Therapeutic): Article 128 I – to save a woman’s life (allowed).
Sentimental: Article 128 II – in cases of rape (allowed).
Self-abortion
Without consent: Article 125
With consent: Article 126
If the victim did not breathe, it is considered abortion. If the victim breathed, it is considered murder or infanticide.
Examination of corpus delicti.
Exclusion of guilt (no penalty): Article 26
Exclusion of illegality (no crime): Article 23