{"id":374624,"date":"2016-04-11T01:23:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T06:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/montana-law\/montana-murder-law.html"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:10:32","slug":"montana-murder-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/montana-law\/montana-murder-law.html","title":{"rendered":"Montana Murder Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Montana Murder Law<\/h1>\n
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\n By Susan Buckner, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Catherine Hodder, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

In general, homicide is the intentional killing of a human being by another human being. Criminal homicide is any unlawful killing done with intent or malice. In most states, malice means acting with intent to kill the victim or acting in a way that death is likely to result.<\/p>\r\n

Montana uses \u201cpurposely or knowingly\u201d instead of \u201cmalice aforethought.\u201d Unlike other states, Montana law does not have degrees of murder, such as first-degree<\/a> or second-degree. Instead, all homicides are either deliberate or negligent.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Montana Homicide Laws<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Montana law has five types of criminal homicide. Homicide is either deliberate, meaning the defendant intended to kill the victim, or negligent, where the defendant causes the victim\u2019s death through carelessness or recklessness.<\/p>\r\n

Deliberate Homicide<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

Deliberate homicide<\/a> means purposely or knowingly causing the death of another human being. In Montana, a jury can infer the defendant\u2019s mental state or intent from the fact that they committed a homicide without other justification or defense. For instance, pushing someone off a cliff knowing they will die, even without an intent to do so, is deliberate homicide in Montana.<\/p>\r\n

Montana does not have a separate felony murder statute<\/a>. Montana code makes a death in the commission of certain enumerated felonies, the attempt to commit such a felony, or in flight from such a felony, a deliberate homicide<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Causing the death of a fetus with the knowledge that a woman is pregnant is deliberate homicide. Montana code has an exception for abortions performed by a medical professional with the woman\u2019s consent.<\/p>\r\n

Mitigated Deliberate Homicide<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

Mitigated deliberate homicide<\/a> is a deliberate homicide committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional stress. Other states call the same offense second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter<\/a>. The defendant must have a reasonable explanation for the emotional stress.<\/p>\r\n

The defendant or prosecution may present evidence of mitigating circumstances. This is not considered an affirmative defense<\/a>. The "reasonable person" standard determines whether the explanation is enough for the emotional stress.<\/p>\r\n

Mitigated deliberate homicide is a lesser included offense of deliberate homicide, but not if the offense is deemed felony murder. A jury can find a defendant guilty of mitigated deliberate homicide if the defendant kills their spouse, but not if a death occurs during a robbery.<\/p>\r\n

Negligent Homicide<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

A negligent homicide is one where the defendant caused the victim\u2019s death through carelessness or recklessness<\/a>. Some states call this involuntary manslaughter.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Vehicular Homicide<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

Causing the death of another person while driving under the influence<\/a> is a felony. This applies to impairment from drugs or alcohol.<\/p>\r\n

Aiding or Soliciting Suicide<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

Aiding or encouraging another person to commit suicide is a separate crime under the statute<\/a> only if the individual does not die. If the individual dies, even if by suicide, the charge is deliberate homicide.<\/p>\r\n

Under the 2009 court ruling Baxter v. Montana<\/i><\/a>, physician-assisted suicide is not legal under the law. However, a doctor can use patient consent as an affirmative defense to the charge of deliberate homicide. Case law remains unclear on this matter.<\/p>\r\n

Penalties<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Montana still has the death penalty on the books, but it hasn’t carried out an execution since 2006. In 2015, Montana district court<\/a> judge Jeffrey Sherlock ruled that the drug proposed for Montana\u2019s lethal injection penalty did not meet the state\u2019s \u201cultra fast-acting barbiturate\u201d requirement. The state has suspended the death penalty since that date.<\/p>\r\n

Penalties for homicide in Montana include:<\/p>\r\n