2022 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 5 - Crimes Against the Person
Article 1 - Homicide
§ 16-5-1. Murder; Malice Murder; Felony Murder; Murder in the Second Degree

1. A person commits the offense of murder when he unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied, causes the death of another human being.
2. Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof. Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.
3. A person commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.
4. A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree when, in the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.
5. 1. A person convicted of the offense of murder shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, or by imprisonment for life.
   2. A person convicted of the offense of murder in the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than 30 years.

History. Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 783; Code 1863, § 4217; Code 1868, § 4254; Code 1873, § 4320; Code 1882, § 4320; Penal Code 1895, § 60; Penal Code 1910, § 60; Code 1933, § 26-1002; Code 1933, § 26-1101, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 1/SB 13; Ga. L. 2014, p. 444, § 1-1/HB 271.

Cross references.

Time limitation on prosecution for murder, § 17-3-1 .

Denial of right of murderer to inherit from victim, § 53-4-6.

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 8/SB 13, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Except as provided in this section, the provisions of this Act shall apply only to those offenses committed after the effective date of this Act. With express written consent of the state, an accused whose offense was committed prior to the effective date of this Act may elect in writing to be sentenced under the provisions of this Act, provided that: (1) jeopardy for the offense charged has not attached or (2) the accused has been sentenced to death but the conviction or sentence has been reversed on appeal and the state is not barred from seeking prosecution after the remand.”

Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 9, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Except as provided in Section 8 of this Act, the amendment or repeal of a Code section by this Act shall not affect any sentence imposed by any court of this state prior to the effective date of this Act.”

Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 10, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “A person may be sentenced to life without parole without the prosecutor seeking the death penalty under the laws of this state.” Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 17(3) codified these provisions at Code Section 17-10-16.1.

Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 11(a), not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment by that Act shall apply to all crimes committed on and after April 29, 2009.

Ga. L. 2009, p. 223, § 11(b), not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “The provisions of this Act shall not affect or abate the status as a crime of any such act or omission which occurred prior to the effective date of the Act repealing, repealing and reenacting, or amending such law, nor shall the prosecution of such crime be abated as a result of such repeal, repeal and reenactment, or amendment.”

Law reviews.

For article recommending more consistency in age requirements of laws pertaining to the welfare of minors, see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 189 (1969).

For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982).

For annual survey of criminal law and procedure, see 35 Mercer L. Rev. 103 (1983).

For annual survey article discussing developments in criminal law, see 51 Mercer L. Rev. 209 (1999).

For annual survey article, “Georgia Death Penalty Law,” see 52 Mercer L. Rev. 29 (2000).

For article, “State v. Jackson and the Explosion of Liability for Felony Murder,” see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 1335 (2011).

For article, “Killers Shouldn’t Inherit from their Victims - Or Should They?,” see 48 Ga. L. Rev. 145 (2013).

For annual survey of criminal law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 31 (2015).

For note discussing the felony murder rule, and proposing legislation to place limitations on Georgia’s felony murder statute, see 9 Ga. St. B. J. 462 (1973).

For note, “An Unconstitutional Fiction: The Felony Murder Rule as Applied to the Supply of Drugs,” see 20 Ga. L. Rev. 671 (1986).

For note, “Edge v. State: The Modified Merger Rule Comes Up Short,” see 44 Mercer L. Rev. 697 (1993).

For comment on Battle v. State, 37 Ga. App. 154 , 139 S.E. 159 (1927), see 1 Ga. B. J. 51 (1927).

For comment on Springer v. State, 37 Ga. App. 154 , 139 S.E. 159 (1927), see 1 Ga. B. J. 51 (1927).

For comment on Head v. State, 68 Ga. App. 759 , 24 S.E.2d 145 (1943), holding year and a day rule applicable in Georgia as a matter of procedure and evidence, see 9 Ga. B. J. 320 (1947).

For comment on Gaines v. Wolcott, 119 Ga. App. 313 , 167 S.E.2d 366 (1969), see 21 Mercer L. Rev. 325 (1969).

For comment on Baker v. State, 236 Ga. 754 , 225 S.E.2d 269 (1976), see 28 Mercer L. Rev. 371 (1976).