What are the different pleas to defend against a murder charge?

Murder is a serious offense which can be relatively hard to defend. There are actually four kinds of murder charges. These are first degree murder, second degree murder, manslaughter and attempted murder. If you have been charged with attempted murder, here are some of the things that you should know to be able to make a decent plea.

Self-defense Plea

Using this plea means that the accused is admitting to the crime, but justifying his actions by stating that he did not kill the victim intentionally, and it was only due to an impending danger to his own life.

Plea for Insufficient Evidence

Evidences can either be testimonial or physical. Testimonial evidences are those which are sworn oral declarations of persons in court regarding the facts of the case. Physical evidences are those materials which have been recovered from the crime scene, usually weapons, money, personal belongings, and other relevant items.

Factual Innocence Plea

With this plea, the accused can claim that he is falsely being implied by someone to a crime he did not actually do. A plea as such allows the accused to petition for the destruction of arrest records and all associated matters. Also, this plea, if granted, would mean that no charge was ever incurred by the accused at all.

Pleading Insanity

This plea has received a lot of criticisms and the past, as such; this should be the last resort in any case. Some cases wherein this plea was used have led to the accused being confined in a mental institution. However, in some cases, the accused have remained incarcerated in special cells because the judgment was ‘guilty but mentally ill’.