Video Transcribed: How is murder two defined in the state of Oklahoma? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I am a criminal attorney in Tulsa with the Wirth Law Office and I want to talk to you today about the definition of murder in the second degree.
Pursuant to state law, murder two is defined under Title 21, Section 701.8, and it’s generally defined as causing the death of another, in a manner that while there was no premeditated design, it evidences a depraved mind that is indifferent to human life.
Also, if you are in the course of committing a felony and someone dies, usually it’s an inherently dangerous felony, then you can also be charged with murder two under the felony murder rule.
Murder two is not as serious as murder one, but it still carries a pretty stiff penalty and if you are facing a murder charge, whether it’s murder one or murder two, you need good legal counsel immediately. If the cops are questioning you about a murder, you need good legal counsel immediately.
The thing to understand about it is, and this is kind of the point with murder two. You don’t have to intend to kill, to get charged with murder. The classic example they’ll give you in law school is like if you throw a brick off a building into a crowd, that could be considered murder two in Oklahoma under this definition, potentially, because if you threw the brick off the building, there’s a very high probability somebody could die and you may not know exactly who it might hit and kill, but it’s going to hit and kill someone.
That would be the classic law school example. But that’s the statute and if you’re in that situation, you definitely need good, competent legal counsel and if you need help with any criminal charge, I would encourage you to go to makelaweasy.com and we’ll help you out, guys.
