Also known as: second-degree · 2nd degree · degree of offense
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A category of criminal participant who aids, commands, or encourages the principal in the first degree while present at the scene of the crime.
A category of criminal participant who aids, commands, or encourages the principal in the first degree while present at the scene of the crime.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A classification of murder or other felony that lacks the premeditation, deliberation, or other aggravating factors required for first degree status.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A classification of murder or other felony that lacks the premeditation, deliberation, or other aggravating factors required for first degree status.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Samantha Stone stood at the hangar entrance and texted her colleague whenever supervisors approached the restricted area. Her colleague copied proprietary files inside. Samantha's presence and signaling aided the theft at the scene itself.
Sophia Singh supplied encrypted devices and urged the data theft while located in Europe. She never appeared at the hangar where the copying occurred. Her absence from the scene placed her outside the second-degree category.
A principal in the second degree must be present at the scene and aid or encourage the principal in the first degree. An accessory before the fact provides similar aid but remains absent from the scene when the crime occurs.
Supporting sources
Selena Singh attempted to steal medical devices from a hospital stockroom. When confronted by the pharmacist she threatened to inject a lethal overdose into a nearby patient. The threat to commit murder elevated the theft to robbery under the statute.
Sofia Stern and her colleague agreed to falsify test data on aircraft panels. Sofia created and saved an altered report to a hidden server directory. Because the target crime was a second-degree felony the overt-act requirement did not apply.
Serena Soto was convicted of a second-degree weapons offense. The trial judge found by a preponderance that she possessed the firearm to intimidate the victim. The finding increased the maximum sentence and required jury determination under the Constitution.
Skylar Sullivan received a mandatory life term for possessing a large quantity of drugs classified as a second-degree felony. She argued the sentence was grossly disproportionate. The Court upheld the penalty as within legislative discretion for the offense.
Robbery occurs when the actor commits or threatens immediately to commit any felony of the first or second degree in the course of a theft. A threat to commit murder satisfies the element even if directed at a third party.
Supporting sources
The Model Penal Code dispenses with the overt-act requirement when the target crime is a felony of the first or second degree. The agreement alone suffices for conviction in those cases.
Supporting sources
Any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge's preponderance finding on such a fact violates the Sixth Amendment.
Supporting sources
…barring destruction of an unquickened fetus as well as a quick fetus, it made the former only a misdemeanor, but the latter second-degree manslaughter. Second, it incorporated a concept of therapeutic abortion by providing that an abortion was excused if it "shall have been necessary to preserve the life of such mother, or…