Federal and State Capital Offenses in the United States

U.S. Federal : Murder related to smuggling of aliens; espionage by a member of the armed forces relating to major weapons, defense strategy, nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, war plans, communications, or cryptographic information; murder while a member of the armed forces; destruction of aircraft, motor vehicles, or related facilities resulting in death; murder committed during a drug related drive-by shooting; murder committed at an airport serving international civil aviation; retaliatory murder of a member of the immediate family of law enforcement officials; civil rights offenses resulting in death; assassination or kidnapping resulting in the death of the President or Vice President; murder of a member of Congress, an important executive official, a Supreme Court Justice, federal judge or federal law enforcement official; espionage; death resulting from offenses involving transportation of explosives, destruction of government property, or the destruction of property related to foreign or interstate commerce; murder committed by the use of a firearm during a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime; murder committed in a federal government facility; genocide; first-degree murder; murder of a foreign official; murder by a federal prisoner; murder of a U.S. national in a foreign country; murder by an escaped federal prisoner already sentenced to life imprisonment; murder of a state or local law enforcement official or other person aiding in a federal investigation; murder of a state correctional officer; murder during a hostage-taking; murder of a court officer or juror; murder with the intent of preventing testimony by a witness, victim, or informant; retaliatory murder of a witness, victim, or informant; mailing of injurious articles with intent to kill or resulting in death; murder for hire; murder involved in a racketeering offense; willful wrecking of a train resulting in death; bank-robbery-related murder or kidnaping; murder related to a carjacking; murder related to rape or child molestation; murder related to sexual exploitation of children; murder committed during an offense against maritime navigation or a maritime fixed platform; terrorist murder of a U.S. national in another country; murder by the use of a weapon of mass destruction; murder involving torture; treason; intentionally ordering or causing the killing of another while engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise; intentionally ordering or causing the killing of a federal, state, or local law enforcement officer while attempting to avoid apprehension, prosecution, or service of a prison sentence for a felony associated with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

Alabama : Murder during kidnaping, robbery, rape, sodomy, burglary, sexual assault, or arson; murder of a peace officer, correctional officer, or public official; murder while under a life sentence; murder of a defendant with a previous murder conviction; murder of a witness to a crime; murder when a victim is subpoenaed in a criminal proceeding, when the murder is related to the role of the victim as a witness; murder when a victim is less than fourteen years old; murder in which a victim is killed during a drive-by shooting.

Alaska : No capital offenses.

Arizona : First-degree murder accompanied by at least one of ten aggravating factors.

Arkansas : Felony murder; arson causing death; intentional murder of a law enforcement officer, teacher, or school employee; murder of prison, jail, court, or correctional personnel or of military personnel acting in line of duty; multiple murders; intentional murder of a public officeholder or candidate; intentional murder while under life sentence; contract murder.

California : Treason; homicide by a prisoner serving a life term; firstdegree murder with special circumstances; train wrecking; perjury causing execution.

Colorado : First-degree murder; felony murder; intentionally killing a peace officer, firefighter, judge, referee, elected State, county, or municipal official, Federal law enforcement officer or agent; person kidnaped or being held hostage by the defendant or an associate of the defendant; being party to an agreement to kill another person; murder committed while lying in wait, from ambush, or by use of an explosive or incendiary device; murder for pecuniary gain; murder in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner; murder for the purpose of  avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution or effecting an escape from custody, including the intentional killing of a witness to a criminal offense; killing two or more persons during the same incident, and murder of a child less than twelve years old; treason.

Connecticut : Murder of a public safety or correctional officer; murder for pecuniary gain; murder in the course of a felony; murder by a defendant with a previous conviction for intentional murder; murder while under a life sentence; murder during a kidnaping; illegal sale of cocaine, methadone, or heroin to a person who dies from using these drugs; murder during first-degree sexual assault; multiple murders; murder committed using an assault weapon.

Delaware : First-degree murder with aggravating circumstances, including murder of a child victim fourteen years of age or younger by an individual who was at least four years older than the victim; killing of a nongovernmental informant who provides an investigative, law enforcement, or police agency with information concerning criminal activity; premeditated murder resulting from substantial planning.

District of Columbia : No capital offenses.

Florida : Felony murder; first-degree murder; sexual battery on a child under age twelve; unlawful use of destructive devices resulting in death; capital drug trafficking.

Georgia : Murder; kidnaping with bodily injury when the victim dies; aircraft hijacking; treason; kidnaping for ransom when the victim dies.

Hawaii : No capital offenses.

Idaho : First-degree murder; aggravated kidnaping.

Illinois : First-degree murder accompanied by at least one of fourteen aggravating factors.

Indiana : Murder with fourteen aggravating circumstances.

Iowa : No capital offenses.

Kansas : Intentional and premeditated murder during the commission of a kidnaping; contract murder; intentional and premeditated killing by a jail or prison inmate; intentional and premeditated killing in the commission of rape or sodomy; intentional and premeditated killing of a law enforcement officer; intentional and premeditated killing of a child under the age of fourteen in the commission of kidnaping; killing two or more persons during the same incident.

Kentucky : Murder with aggravating factor; kidnaping with aggravating factor.  

Louisiana : First-degree murder; treason.

Maine : No capital offenses.

Maryland : First-degree murder, either premeditated or during the commission of a felony, provided that certain death eligibility requirements are satisfied.

Massachusetts : No capital offenses.

Michigan : No capital offenses.

Minnesota : No capital offenses.

Mississippi : Murder of a peace officer or correctional officer; murder while under a life sentence; murder by bomb or explosive; contract murder; murder committed during specific felonies (rape, burglary, kidnaping, arson, robbery, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse with a child, nonconsensual unnatural intercourse); murder of an elected official; rape of a child under fourteen years old by a person eighteen years or older; aircraft piracy.

Missouri : First-degree murder.

Montana : Deliberate homicide; aggravated kidnaping when victim or rescuer dies; attempted deliberate kidnaping by a state prison inmate who has a prior conviction for deliberate homicide or who has previously been declared a persistent felony offender.

Nebraska : First-degree murder.

Nevada : First-degree murder with nine aggravating circumstances.

New Hampshire : Contract murder; murder of a law enforcement officer; murder of a kidnaping victim; killing another after being sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

New Jersey : Purposeful or knowing murder; contract murder.

New Mexico : First-degree murder; felony murder with aggravating circumstances.

New York : First-degree murder with twelve aggravating circumstances.

North Carolina : First-degree murder.

North Dakota : No capital offenses.

Ohio : Aggravated murder, including assassination; contract murder; murder during escape; murder after conviction for a prior purposeful killing or prior attempted murder; murder of a peace officer; murder arising from specified felonies (rape, kidnaping, arson, robbery, burglary); murder of a witness to prevent testimony in a criminal proceeding or in retaliation.

Oklahoma : First-degree murder, including murder with malice aforethought; murder arising from specified felonies (forcible rape, robbery with a dangerous weapon, kidnaping, escape from lawful custody, first-degree burglary, arson); murder when the victim is a child who has been injured, tortured, or maimed.

Oregon : Aggravated murder.

Pennsylvania : First-degree murder.

Rhode Island : No capital offenses.

South Carolina : Murder with a statutory aggravating circumstance.

South Dakota : First-degree murder; kidnaping with gross permanent physical injury inflicted on the victim; felony murder.

Tennessee : First-degree murder.

Texas : Murder of a public safety officer, fireman, or correctional employee; murder during the commission of specified felonies (kidnaping, burglary, robbery, aggravated rape, arson); murder for remuneration; multiple murders; murder during prison escape; murder of a correctional officer; murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses; murder of an individual under six years of age.

Utah : Aggravated murder; aggravated assault by a prisoner serving a life sentence if serious bodily injury is intentionally caused.

Vermont : No capital offenses.

Virginia : Murder during the commission or attempts to commit specified felonies (abduction, armed robbery, rape, forcible sodomy); contract murder; murder by a prisoner while in custody; murder of a law enforcement officer; multiple murders; murder of a child under twelve years during an abduction; murder arising from drug violations.

Washington : Aggravated first-degree premeditated murder.

West Virginia : No capital offenses.

Wisconsin : No capital offenses.

 Wyoming : Premeditated murder; felony murder in the perpetration of (or attempts at) sexual assault, arson, robbery, burglary, escape, re sisting arrest, kidnaping, or abuse of a child under sixteen years of age.

Source: Adapted from James J. Stephen and Tracy L. Snell, Capital Punishment 1994, NCJ-158023, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1996.