Homicide and Assault

ASSAULT AND HOMICIDE DEFINED e ways in which we attempt to or actually harm each other are almost in”nite. Each individual state within the United States has its own statutory de”nition of what constitutes the crimes of assault and homicide, and the federal government has its own de”nition, as well. Most de”nitions of the crime of assault, however, center around the common law explanation as stated by Black (1968), who de”ned the crime of assault as “an intentional, unlawful o—er of corporal injury to another by force, or force unlawfully directed toward person ofCHAPTER OBJECTIVESA’er reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:1. De”ne an assault. 2. De”ne the crime of felonious homicide. 3. Explain the classi”cations of death. 4. Explain the aims of a death investigation. 5. De”ne wounding patterns and explain why they are important.