A crime of passion ( French : crime passionnel), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as sudden rage rather than as a premeditated crime.
Description
The ' crime of passion' defense challenges the mens rea element by suggesting that there was no malice aforethought, and instead the crime was committed in the " heat of passion." In some jurisdictions, a successful ' crime of passion' defense may result in a conviction for manslaughter or second degree murder instead of first degree murder, because a defendant cannot ordinarily be convicted of first degree murder unless the crime was premeditated. A classic example of a crime of passion involves a spouse who, upon finding his or her partner in bed with another, kills the romantic interloper.
In the United States, claims of "crimes of passion" have been traditionally associated with the defenses of temporary insanity or provocation. 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 II. It was used as a defense in murder cases during the 1940s and 1950s. Historically, such defenses were used as complete defenses for various violent crimes, but gradually they became used primarily as a partial defense to a charge of murder ; if the court accepts temporary insanity, a murder charge may be reduced to manslaughter.
In some countries, notably France, crime passionnel ( or crime of passion) was a valid defense to murder charges. During the 19th century, some such cases resulted in a custodial sentence for the murderer of two years. After the Napoleonic code was updated in the 1970s, paternal authority over the members of the family was ended, thus reducing the occasions for which crime passionnel could be claimed. The Canadian Department of Justice, has described crimes of passion as "abrupt, impulsive, and unpremeditated acts of violence committed by persons, who have come face to face with an incident unacceptable to them, and who are rendered, incapable of self -control for the duration of the act."
Advocacy
In recent decades, feminists and women 's rights organizations have worked to change laws and social norms which tolerate crimes of passion against women.
