A qualified homicide occurs only if the crime is intentional (with the intent to kill) and presents specific details: the qualifiers.
During the investigation of the case, the prosecution decides whether one or more of these details will appear in the indictment. At trial, even if convicted, the murderer may be found not guilty by the jury of each qualifier.
A simple homicide, without qualifiers, has a sentence stipulated in at least six years, and can reach 12 – with them, it can reach several decades. The judge is the one who decides the time of imprisonment.
Courses of a crime
Homicides with two qualifiers are doubly qualified, and so on.
Manslaughter: no intent to kill
Example: being run over followed by death –> No qualifiers.
– In an arrest in flagrante delicto, a bail is established. Some crimes, such as murder, do not allow this.
Intentional homicide: with intent to kill
Example: drunk driving and hitting someone.
Qualifier 1: futile motive
Examples: bar or traffic fight
Qualifier 2: kinda cruel
Examples: use of poison, fire, suffocation, torture or cruelty.
Qualifier 3: cover-up of another crime
Example: deletion of witnesses.
Qualifier 4: base motive
Examples: crime committed for revenge, racism or for payment.
Qualifier 5: Defense Difficulty
Examples: use of ambush or other resource that prevents the victim from defending himself.
qualified cases
remember episodes of triple qualified homicides in Brazil
– (Strange World/Strange World)
Nardoni case
Defendant – Alexandre Nardoni.
When – March 2010.
Penalty – 31 years, 1 month and 10 days.
Qualifiers: Awkward motive, somewhat cruel, and cover-up of another crime.
Eliza Samudio case
Defendant – Macaroni.
When – November 2012.
Penalty – 15 years.
Qualifiers: Bad reason, kind of cruel and difficult defense.
Richthofen case
Defendant – Suzane von Richthofen.
When – July 2006.
Penalty – 39 years and 6 months.
Qualifiers: Bad reason, kind of cruel and difficult defense.
SOURCE: Rodrigo Dall’Acqua, lawyer at Dall¿Acqua e Furrier Advogados, Marcelo Di Rezende, lawyer at Di Rezende Advocacia, and Samir Abad Sacomano and Claudio Gomez, lawyers.