I have recently had several people ask the difference between murder and capital murder. Both are obviously very serious charges and both, if the person is convicted, carry steep punishments.

Murder is a Class A felony. The range of punishment for a person convicted of murder without a prior felony conviction is not less than 10 years and not more than life or 99 years imprisonment in the state penitentiary. For a person with one prior felony conviction the range is 15 to 99 years. For two prior felony convictions, the range is life imprisonment or any term of years not less than 99. For three prior felony convictions, it is mandatory imprisonment for life. Under section 13A-6-2 of the Code of Alabama, murder is defined as the following:

A person commits the crime of murder if he or she does any of the following:

(1) With intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of that person or of another person.

(2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he or she recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself, and thereby causes the death of another person.

(3) He or she commits or attempts to commit arson in the first degree, burglary in the first or second degree, escape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, rape in the first degree, robbery in any degree, sodomy in the first degree, any other felony clearly dangerous to human life and, in the course of and in furtherance of the crime that he or she is committing or attempting to commit, or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant if there be any, causes the death of any person.

(4) He or she commits the crime of arson and a qualified governmental or volunteer firefighter or other public safety officer dies while performing his or her duty resulting from the arson.

If certain aggravating factors are present then a person can be charged with capital murder. Aggravating factors are certain circumstances that also existed when the murder took place. If charged with capital murder, the state must also prove the aggravating circumstance existed, as well as the elements for murder.

Some of the more common aggravating factors include kidnapping, robbery, rape, burglary, murder of a law enforcement officer, etc. These aggravating factors, plus others, can be found in section 13A-5-40 of the Code of Alabama. The aggravating factors listed in that code section can then make a murder a capital offense. If convicted of capital murder, the punishment is death or life imprisonment without parole.

In Alabama, the jury makes a recommendation for death or life without parole. The trial judge has the authority to accept the jury's recommendation, or not, when the defendant is sentenced.