Also known as: capital crimes · capital offense · capital offenses · death-eligible crime
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A serious offense for which death or life imprisonment may be imposed under statute. Classification as capital triggers heightened constitutional safeguards at trial and sentencing.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Cody Callahan, age seventeen, shot a classmate after weeks of planning. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder and sought execution. The court granted his motion to strike the death penalty because his age at the time of the offense placed him outside the class eligible for capital punishment.
Cade Carpenter faced capital murder charges after a fatal robbery. Unable to afford counsel, he requested appointed representation. The trial court denied the request, but the reviewing court reversed because the Sixth Amendment requires counsel in all prosecutions for capital crimes.
Caleb Chang was convicted of capital murder. The court conducted a separate penalty hearing at which the jury heard evidence in aggravation and mitigation before deciding between death and life imprisonment.
Chloe Chen stood trial for capital murder. The judge alone found the aggravating factors needed to authorize a death sentence. The appellate court vacated the sentence because any fact that increases the maximum penalty must be found by the jury.
Corinne Cho was prosecuted under an old statute that made abortion of a quick fetus a capital crime. The court dismissed the charge after determining that modern constitutional doctrine no longer permitted such classification.
Curtis Cannon faced charges under a statute that once treated certain private conduct as a capital crime. The court rejected the prosecution because contemporary doctrine had removed the offense from the capital category.
Offenders who were under eighteen at the time of the capital crime may not be executed. The rule applies regardless of planning, maturity, or aggravating circumstances.
Supporting sources
No. The Eighth Amendment imposes a proportionality limit. Death is categorically unavailable for nonhomicide offenses against adult victims who survive.
Supporting sources
Yes. Evidence that a mental disease or defect impaired the defendant's capacity to appreciate wrongfulness or conform conduct is admissible as mitigation when the sentencer chooses between death and imprisonment.
Supporting sources
…criminal abortion statute, Lord Ellenborough's Act, 43 Geo. 3, c. 58, came in 1803. It made abortion of a quick fetus, § 1, a capital crime, but in § 2 it provided lesser penalties for the felony of abortion before quickening, and thus preserved the "quickening" distinction. This contrast was continued in the general revision…