Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall be imprisoned for life. Every
person guilty of murder in the first degree: (1) committed intentionally while engaged
in the commission of another capital offense or other felony for which life imprisonment
may be imposed; (2) committed in a manner creating a great risk of death to more than
one person by means of a weapon or device or substance which would normally be hazardous
to the life of more than one person; (3) committed at the direction of another person
in return for money or any other thing of monetary value from that person; (4) committed
in a manner involving torture or an aggravated battery to the victim; (5) committed
against any member of the judiciary, law enforcement officer, corrections employee,
assistant attorney general or special assistant attorney general, or firefighter arising
from the lawful performance of his or her official duties; (6) committed by a person
who at the time of the murder was committed to confinement in the adult correctional
institutions or the state reformatory for women upon conviction of a felony; or (7)
committed during the course of the perpetration or attempted perpetration of felony
manufacture, sale, delivery or other distribution of a controlled substance otherwise
prohibited by the provisions of chapter 28 of title 21; shall be imprisoned for life and if ordered by the court pursuant to chapter 19.2 of title 12 that person shall not be eligible for parole from imprisonment. Every person guilty
of murder in the second degree shall be imprisoned for not less than ten (10) years
and may be imprisoned for life.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
78
cases (
6 in the last 5 years), 1966–2026 · leading case:
State v. Pacheco, 763 A.2d 971 (R.I. 2001).
State v. Pacheco, 763 A.2d 971 (R.I. 2001).
· cites it 25× “The defendant was found guilty on the same counts, but the jury in his case also found that several of the aggravating factors set forth in G.L.1956 § 11-23-2 were present. The defendant's motion for a new trial was denied.”
State v. Graham, 941 A.2d 848 (R.I. 2008).
· cites it 10× “Section 11-23-2 says in relevant part: “Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall be imprisoned for life.”
Page v. State, 995 A.2d 934 (R.I. 2010).
· cites it 9× “We begin by noting that, pursuant to G.L.1956 § 11-23-2, "a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole may be imposed in a first-degree murder case when one of seven enumerated grounds is present.”
State v. Lopez, 45 A.3d 1 (R.I. 2012).
· cites it 8× “" [3] Section 11-23-2 provides, in relevant part: "Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall be imprisoned for life.”
State v. McManus, 941 A.2d 222 (R.I. 2008).
· cites it 8× “G.L. 1956 § 11-23-2. On July 2, 1997, the jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of the first-degree murder Of his wife, Kelly.”
State v. Edwards, 810 A.2d 226 (R.I. 2002).
· cites it 8× “The defendant argues that the trial justice had no authority to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole because the indictment returned by the grand jury did not allege a violation of the statute that authorizes the imposition of such penalty, namely, § 11-23-2 and…”
State v. Day, 925 A.2d 962 (R.I. 2007).
· cites it 6× “The Superior Court’s Decision General Laws 1956 § 11-23-2 37 allows for the imposition of life imprisonment without parole as a penalty for the commission of murder if any one of seven enumerated circumstances is found to have existed.”
Bustamante v. Wall, 866 A.2d 516 (R.I. 2005).
· cites it 6× “2-1 and G.L.1956 § 11-23-2. 1 The applicant maintains that the trial justice violated the *521 dictates of § 12-19.”
State v. Travis, 568 A.2d 316 (R.I. 1990).
· cites it 11× “1956 (1981 Reenactment) § 11-23-2, as amended by P.L.1984, ch. 221, § 1.”
State v. Brown, 898 A.2d 69 (R.I. 2006).
· cites it 7× “We completely agree with the finding of the jury that the aggravating factors set forth in § 11-23-2 are present in the case before us.”
State v. Motyka, 893 A.2d 267 (R.I. 2006).
· cites it 7× “See State v. Pacheco, 763 A.2d 971, 982 (R.”
State v. Cline, 397 A.2d 1309 (R.I. 1979).
· cites it 9× “1956 (1969 Reenactment) §12-22-10, certified to us a number of questions, several of which relate to the 1973 amended version of §11-23-2. Although these appeals raise numerous issues, we have consolidated them for the sole and specific purpose of determining whether the…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-23-2(2) — 1 case
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-23-2(3) — 2 cases
State v. Graham, 941 A.2d 848 (R.I. 2008).
“Section 11-23-2 says in relevant part: “Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall be imprisoned for life.”
State v. Pacheco, 763 A.2d 971 (R.I. 2001).
“The defendant was found guilty on the same counts, but the jury in his case also found that several of the aggravating factors set forth in G.L.1956 § 11-23-2 were present. The defendant's motion for a new trial was denied.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-23-2(4) — 15 cases
State v. Pacheco, 763 A.2d 971 (R.I. 2001).
“The defendant was found guilty on the same counts, but the jury in his case also found that several of the aggravating factors set forth in G.L.1956 § 11-23-2 were present. The defendant's motion for a new trial was denied.”
State v. McManus, 941 A.2d 222 (R.I. 2008).
“G.L. 1956 § 11-23-2. On July 2, 1997, the jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of the first-degree murder Of his wife, Kelly.”
State v. Edwards, 810 A.2d 226 (R.I. 2002).
“The defendant argues that the trial justice had no authority to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without parole because the indictment returned by the grand jury did not allege a violation of the statute that authorizes the imposition of such penalty, namely, § 11-23-2 and…”
Page v. State, 995 A.2d 934 (R.I. 2010).
“We begin by noting that, pursuant to G.L.1956 § 11-23-2, "a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole may be imposed in a first-degree murder case when one of seven enumerated grounds is present.”
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.