James C. Gallo with Gallo Law Office has a great deal of experience representing individual's charged with violent crimes, such as murder. This includes all aspects of representation from the investigation phase through sentencing.
Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being. See NRS 200.010. There are also differing degrees of murder and the lesser offense of “manslaughter.”
First Degree Murder is typically committed in one of the following manners: (a) perpetrated by means of poison, lying in wait or torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing; or (b) committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of specific felonies; or (c) committed to avoid or prevent the lawful arrest of any person by a peace officer or to effect escape of any person from legal custody.
Second Degree Murder is all other kinds of murder – ie – the State is unable to prove one of the three elements listed under subsection (a) of First Degree Murder; that the murder was willful, deliberate, and premeditated. The prosecution must be able to prove all three of those elements in order to convict an individual under subsection (a) of First Degree Murder.
Manslaughter can be either Voluntary or Involuntary and is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice express or implied, and without any mixture of deliberation. It must be voluntary, upon sudden heat of passion, caused by a provocation apparently sufficient to make the passion irresistible, or involuntary, in the commission of an unlawful act, or a lawful act without due caution or circumspection. See NRS 200.040.
The punishment ranges for these crimes are dramatically different. First and Second Degree Murder carry the potential of life in prison. First Degree Murder may result in Death, Life Without the Possibility of Parole, or Parole after serving a minimum of 20 years. Second Degree Murder carries a minimum of 10 years. Voluntary Manslaughter carries a penalty between 1 and 10 years and is probationable. All three may require a harsher punishment if the crime was committed while using a Deadly Weapon. Involuntary Manslaughter carries a punishment of 1 to 4 years in prison. The lawyers at Gallo Law office have the necessary experience to obtain the best possible outcome for an individual facing these serious charges.