(a) A person commits the crime of murder if he or she does any of the following:
(1) With intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of that person or of another person.
(2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he or she recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself, and thereby causes the death of another person.
(3) He or she commits or attempts to commit arson in the first degree, burglary in the first or second degree, escape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, rape in the first degree, robbery in any degree, sodomy in the first degree, aggravated child abuse under Section 26-15-3.1, or any other felony clearly dangerous to human life and, in the course of and in furtherance of the crime that he or she is committing or attempting to commit, or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant if there be any, causes the death of any person.
(4) He or she commits the crime of arson and a qualified governmental or volunteer firefighter or other public safety officer dies while performing his or her duty resulting from the arson.
(b) A person does not commit murder under subdivisions (a)(1) or (a)(2) of this section if he or she was moved to act by a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law, and before there had been a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for reason to reassert itself. The burden of injecting the issue of killing under legal provocation is on the defendant, but this does not shift the burden of proof. This subsection does not apply to a prosecution for, or preclude a conviction of, manslaughter or other crime.
(c) Murder is a Class A felony; provided, that the punishment for murder or any offense committed under aggravated circumstances by a person 18 years of age or older, as provided by Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this title, is death or life imprisonment without parole, which punishment shall be determined and fixed as provided by Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this title or any amendments thereto. The punishment for murder or any offense committed under aggravated circumstances by a person under the age of 18 years, as provided by Article 2 of Chapter 5, is either life imprisonment without parole, or life, which punishment shall be determined and fixed as provided by Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this title or any amendments thereto and the applicable Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure.
If the defendant is sentenced to life on a capital offense, the defendant must serve a minimum of 30 years, day for day, prior to first consideration of parole.
(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §2005; Act 2006-427, p. 1057, §1; Act 2016-29, §2; Act 2016-360, §1.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
572
cases (
48 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case:
Ex Parte Rice, 766 So. 2d 143 (Ala. 1999).
Ex Parte Rice, 766 So. 2d 143 (Ala. 1999).
· cites it 13× “Section 13A-6-2 provides in part: "(a) A person commits the crime of murder if: ".”
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
· cites it 2× “STATES THAT PERMIT THE IMPOSITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY ON JUVENILES Alabama Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(c) (West 2004) (no express minimum age) Arizona Ariz.”
Ex Parte Simmons, 649 So. 2d 1282 (Ala. 1994).
· cites it 22× “As noted in the Commentary to § 13A-6-2 (under the subheading "Transferred Intent"): "Where the actor intentionally or knowingly does an act that is highly likely to cause death to another person, and as a natural and direct result another person is killed, though not the person…”
Sheffield v. State, 87 So. 3d 607 (Ala. Crim. App. 2010).
· cites it 16× “Under § 13A-l-9(a)(4), reckless murder could be considered an included *620 offense of intentional murder, the indicted offense, if it differed from the indicted offense only because it required a lesser kind of culpability. However, there is another difference.”
United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019).
“, Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(2) (2015) ("grave risk of death"); Kan.”
Williams v. State, 710 So. 2d 1276 (Ala. Crim. App. 1996).
· cites it 5× “[2] In case CC-92-1554, he was charged with and convicted of the offense of attempted murder of Jeffery Carr, a violation of § 13A-4-2 and § 13A-6-2. [3] In case CC-92-1555, he was charged with and convicted of the offense of attempted murder of Brad Barber, also a violation of…”
Cockrell v. State, 890 So. 2d 174 (Ala. 2004).
· cites it 13× “Penal Code (2004), reads: "All murder which is perpetrated by means of a destructive device or explosive, a weapon of mass destruction, knowing use of ammunition designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor, poison, lying in wait, torture, or by any other kind of willful,…”
Ex Parte McGriff, 908 So. 2d 1024 (Ala. 2005).
· cites it 5× “[h]e causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder under Section 13A-6-2; except, that he causes the death due to a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law, and before a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for…”
Perkins v. State, 808 So. 2d 1041 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999).
· cites it 6× “1988), this court held that an indictment that charged the capital murder of a police officer in alternative language complied with the statutory language of § 13A-6-2(a)(1) and § 13A-5-40(a)(5), Code of Alabama 1975.”
Ex Parte Jordan, 486 So. 2d 485 (Ala. 1986).
· cites it 6× “In regard to subsection (4), that court stated: "[A]lthough homicide by vehicle requires a `lesser kind of culpability' than murder under § 13A-6-2(a)(2), it does not differ from the offense of murder only in that respect.”
State of Iowa v. Keyon Harrison, 914 N.W.2d 178 (Iowa 2018).
· cites it 2× “, Ala. Code § 13A-6-2 (Westlaw through Act 2018–579) (classifying felony murder as first-degree murder and codifying the punishment for juvenile offenders who commit murder to be either life imprisonment without parole or life); Alaska Stat.”
Ex Parte Kyzer, 399 So. 2d 330 (Ala. 1981).
· cites it 4× “Code 1975, § 13A-6-2, provides: (a) A person commits the crime of murder if: (1) With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of that person or of another person; or (2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly…”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(1) — 1 case
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(2) — 1 case
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(3) — 2 cases
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(A)(3) — 1 case
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a) — 18 cases
Ex Parte Jordan, 486 So. 2d 485 (Ala. 1986).
“In regard to subsection (4), that court stated: "[A]lthough homicide by vehicle requires a `lesser kind of culpability' than murder under § 13A-6-2(a)(2), it does not differ from the offense of murder only in that respect.”
Cockrell v. State, 890 So. 2d 174 (Ala. 2004).
“Penal Code (2004), reads: "All murder which is perpetrated by means of a destructive device or explosive, a weapon of mass destruction, knowing use of ammunition designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor, poison, lying in wait, torture, or by any other kind of willful,…”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(1) — 98 cases
Williams v. State, 710 So. 2d 1276 (Ala. Crim. App. 1996).
“[2] In case CC-92-1554, he was charged with and convicted of the offense of attempted murder of Jeffery Carr, a violation of § 13A-4-2 and § 13A-6-2. [3] In case CC-92-1555, he was charged with and convicted of the offense of attempted murder of Brad Barber, also a violation of…”
Ex Parte McGriff, 908 So. 2d 1024 (Ala. 2005).
“[h]e causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder under Section 13A-6-2; except, that he causes the death due to a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law, and before a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for…”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(2) — 57 cases
United States v. Davis, 139 S. Ct. 2319 (2019).
“, Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(2) (2015) ("grave risk of death"); Kan.”
Sheffield v. State, 87 So. 3d 607 (Ala. Crim. App. 2010).
“Under § 13A-l-9(a)(4), reckless murder could be considered an included *620 offense of intentional murder, the indicted offense, if it differed from the indicted offense only because it required a lesser kind of culpability. However, there is another difference.”
Ex Parte Simmons, 649 So. 2d 1282 (Ala. 1994).
“As noted in the Commentary to § 13A-6-2 (under the subheading "Transferred Intent"): "Where the actor intentionally or knowingly does an act that is highly likely to cause death to another person, and as a natural and direct result another person is killed, though not the person…”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(3) — 60 cases
Ex Parte Rice, 766 So. 2d 143 (Ala. 1999).
“Section 13A-6-2 provides in part: "(a) A person commits the crime of murder if: ".”
Perkins v. State, 808 So. 2d 1041 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999).
“1988), this court held that an indictment that charged the capital murder of a police officer in alternative language complied with the statutory language of § 13A-6-2(a)(1) and § 13A-5-40(a)(5), Code of Alabama 1975.”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(l) — 47 cases
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(b) — 13 cases
Ex Parte McGriff, 908 So. 2d 1024 (Ala. 2005).
“[h]e causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder under Section 13A-6-2; except, that he causes the death due to a sudden heat of passion caused by provocation recognized by law, and before a reasonable time for the passion to cool and for…”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(c) — 14 cases
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
“STATES THAT PERMIT THE IMPOSITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY ON JUVENILES Alabama Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(c) (West 2004) (no express minimum age) Arizona Ariz.”
Ex Parte Kyzer, 399 So. 2d 330 (Ala. 1981).
“Code 1975, § 13A-6-2, provides: (a) A person commits the crime of murder if: (1) With intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of that person or of another person; or (2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly…”
Perkins v. State, 808 So. 2d 1041 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999).
“1988), this court held that an indictment that charged the capital murder of a police officer in alternative language complied with the statutory language of § 13A-6-2(a)(1) and § 13A-5-40(a)(5), Code of Alabama 1975.”
Ex Parte Rice, 766 So. 2d 143 (Ala. 1999).
“Section 13A-6-2 provides in part: "(a) A person commits the crime of murder if: ".”
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(e) — 1 case
— Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(l) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.