2006 Code of Virginia § 18.2-31 - Capital murder defined; punishment

18.2-31. Capital murder defined; punishment.

The following offenses shall constitute capital murder, punishable as a Class1 felony:

1. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in thecommission of abduction, as defined in 18.2-48, when such abduction wascommitted with the intent to extort money or a pecuniary benefit or with theintent to defile the victim of such abduction;

2. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by anotherfor hire;

3. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by aprisoner confined in a state or local correctional facility as defined in 53.1-1, or while in the custody of an employee thereof;

4. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in thecommission of robbery or attempted robbery;

5. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in thecommission of, or subsequent to, rape or attempted rape, forcible sodomy orattempted forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration;

6. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a law-enforcementofficer as defined in 9.1-101 or any law-enforcement officer of anotherstate or the United States having the power to arrest for a felony under thelaws of such state or the United States, when such killing is for the purposeof interfering with the performance of his official duties;

7. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one personas a part of the same act or transaction;

8. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one personwithin a three-year period;

9. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in thecommission of or attempted commission of a violation of 18.2-248, involvinga Schedule I or II controlled substance, when such killing is for the purposeof furthering the commission or attempted commission of such violation;

10. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person byanother pursuant to the direction or order of one who is engaged in acontinuing criminal enterprise as defined in subsection I of 18.2-248;

11. The willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of a pregnant woman byone who knows that the woman is pregnant and has the intent to cause theinvoluntary termination of the woman's pregnancy without a live birth;

12. The willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of a person under theage of fourteen by a person age twenty-one or older; and

13. The willful, deliberate and premeditated killing of any person by anotherin the commission of or attempted commission of an act of terrorism asdefined in 18.2-46.4.

If any one or more subsections, sentences, or parts of this section shall bejudged unconstitutional or invalid, such adjudication shall not affect,impair, or invalidate the remaining provisions thereof but shall be confinedin its operation to the specific provisions so held unconstitutional orinvalid.

(Code 1950, 18.1-21, 53-291; 1960, c. 358; 1962, c. 42; 1966, c. 300;1970, c. 648; 1973, c. 403; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1976, c. 503; 1977, c. 478;1979, c. 582; 1980, c. 221; 1981, c. 607; 1982, c. 636; 1983, c. 175; 1985,c. 428; 1988, c. 550; 1989, c. 527; 1990, c. 746; 1991, c. 232; 1995, c. 340;1996, cc. 876, 959; 1997, cc. 235, 313, 514, 709; 1998, c. 887; 2002, cc.588, 623.)