Crime of passion

A crime committed under the influence of sudden or extreme passion. For instance, a man's attack on another person with an axe after that person insulted the attacker's wife might be considered a crime committed in the heat of passion. 3 So. 551. More frequently, killing an adulterer or adulteress upon the sudden discovery of adultery is characterized as a crime committed in the heat of passion. Heat of passion is a defense to the mens rea, or intent element of murder, the rationale being that a person whose passions are suddenly provoked is incapable of premeditation. Id. The defense will reduce a murder charge to a manslaughter charge and hence reduce a defendant's possible punishment. LaFave, Criminal Law 7.10 (3d ed. 2000). In determining whether the act was impelled by heat of passion or by malice, all circumstances must be taken into account, including the length of time between the provocation and killing, the manner of the killing, and the previous relations of the parties. 10 Mich. 212. See manslaughter.

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For other uses, see Crime of passion (disambiguation).

Triangular love scene as seen by painter Ingres in this scene of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini in The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri). Jealousy is a strong feeling involved in such a crime profile.

A crime of passion, in popular usage, refers to a crime in which the perpetrator commits a crime, especially assault or murder, against a spouse or other loved one because of sudden strong impulse such as a jealous rage or heartbreak rather than as a premeditated crime. A typical crime of passion, for example, might involve a husband who discovers his wife has made him a cuckold and proceeds to brutally batter or even kill his wife or the man with whom she was involved. Women (e.g. Ruth Ellis or Lorena Bobbitt), as well as men, can commit crimes of passion.

In the United States civil courts, a crime of passion is referred to as temporary insanity. This defense was first used by U.S. Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York in 1859 after he had killed his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key, but was most used during the 1940s and 1950s.

In some countries, notably France, crime passionnel (or crime of passion) was a valid defense during murder cases; during the 19th century, some cases could be a custodial sentence for two years for the murderer, while the spouse was dead; this ended in France as the Napoleonic code was updated in the 1970s so that a specific father's authority upon his whole family was over.

See also

• Murder-suicide
• Honor killing

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