“Open murder” is a charging practice used by Nevada prosecutors. When a person is accused of a homicide, the district attorney typically files a single, broad murder charge, referred to as an open murder charge, that encompasses all four levels of criminal homicide under Nevada law simultaneously. The jury, not the prosecutor, ultimately decides which specific offense the defendant is guilty of, or whether any criminal homicide was committed at all.

The four criminal homicide offenses included within an open murder charge are:

The structural foundation for open murder charging in Nevada is ↗ NRS 200.030(3), which assigns the determination of murder degree to the jury rather than the charging prosecutor:

This provision means that once a murder charge is filed, it is the jury’s role after hearing all the evidence to determine whether the defendant’s conduct rises to first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or whether the evidence supports only a lesser offense such as voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. The prosecutor files the broad open charge; the jury returns the specific verdict. This structure serves two important functions: it prevents prosecutors from overcharging on degree, and it allows juries to reach a verdict that accurately reflects the actual evidence rather than the charged allegation.

Before examining the degrees of murder, it is necessary to understand what distinguishes murder from other homicides under Nevada law. The two foundational definitions are:

The concept of malice aforethought is what separates murder from manslaughter. Malice can be express — a deliberate, proven intent to kill or implied inferred from circumstances where no meaningful provocation exists or where the defendant’s conduct reflects an “abandoned and malignant heart.” Manslaughter, by contrast, is defined under ↗ NRS 200.040 as an unlawful killing without malice, either express or implied.

First-degree murder is the most serious criminal charge in Nevada. Under ↗ NRS 200.030(1), murder of the first degree is murder which is:

The “Willful, Deliberate and Premeditated” Standard

Under subsection (a), first-degree murder based on premeditation requires all three elements: the killing must be willful (intentional), deliberate (considered, not impulsive), and premeditated (planned in advance, however briefly). Nevada courts have held that premeditation does not require extensive planning, even a moment of reflection before the act can be sufficient, but there must be some measurable interval in which the defendant formed a conscious decision to kill.

Nevada’s felony murder rule — codified in ↗ NRS 200.030(1)(b) — automatically elevates a killing to first-degree murder when it occurs during the commission or attempted commission of specific enumerated felonies, regardless of whether the defendant intended to kill anyone.

The Ten Predicate Felonies Under NRS 200.030(1)(b)

The NRS also provides a separate basis for first-degree murder when committed to avoid lawful arrest, to effect an escape from custody ↗ NRS 200.030(1)(c), or when committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an act of terrorism. ↗ NRS 200.030(1)(e)

Under ↗ NRS 200.030(2), second-degree murder is defined simply as “all other kinds of murder.” It is a residual category: any unlawful killing committed with malice aforethought that does not meet the premeditation/deliberation requirements of first-degree murder, and does not fall within one of the felony murder predicate offenses, is second-degree murder.

What Qualifies as Second-Degree Murder

Second-degree murder typically involves killings where the defendant had malicious intent or acted with extreme recklessness demonstrating a conscious disregard for human life — an “abandoned and malignant heart” under NRS 200.020(2) — but did not premeditate or deliberate. Common factual patterns include:

• An impulsive killing during a sudden confrontation, where anger was present but not enough provocation to reduce the offense to voluntary manslaughter
• Firing a weapon into a crowded area without intent to kill a specific person
• Conduct so reckless that death was a highly probable consequence, even without specific intent to kill

Voluntary manslaughter is defined in ↗ NRS 200.050. It occupies the space between murder and accidental killing — it is an intentional killing, but one in which malice is negated by sufficient legal provocation:

The “Cooling Off” Rule: NRS 200.060

A critical limitation on voluntary manslaughter is the “cooling off” rule found in ↗ NRS 200.060:

In other words, voluntary manslaughter requires that the killing happen in the immediate heat of passion. If the defendant had sufficient time to calm down between the provocation and the killing, the law treats the act as deliberate revenge — and punishes it as murder. The question of whether enough time passed for a reasonable person to cool down is a factual determination for the jury.

A person convicted of voluntary manslaughter under ↗ NRS 200.080 is guilty of a Category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 10 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $10,000.

Involuntary manslaughter is the least serious of the four offenses included in an open murder charge. It is defined in ↗ NRS 200.070:

The critical element of involuntary manslaughter is the absence of intent to kill. It covers two factual scenarios:

Involuntary manslaughter, under ↗ NRS 200.090, is a Category D felony, punishable as provided in ↗ NRS 193.130.

The penalties for each level of homicide under an open murder charge vary dramatically — from a potential death sentence at the top to a Category D felony at the bottom. All penalties below are taken directly from Nevada Revised Statutes as revised December 9, 2024.

A first-degree murder conviction does not automatically result in the death penalty. Under ↗ NRS 200.033, the death penalty is only available when at least one aggravating circumstance is present and any mitigating circumstances do not outweigh it. The statute provides that the “only circumstances by which murder of the first degree may be aggravated are” the following fifteen:

Mitigating circumstances that may weigh against the death penalty are listed in ↗ NRS 200.035 and include: no significant prior criminal history; extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time; the victim’s participation in the criminal conduct; the defendant’s relatively minor participation as an accomplice; acting under duress or domination; the youth of the defendant; and any other circumstance the sentencer finds mitigating.

Under the open murder framework, the path from charge to verdict works as follows:

The open murder charging structure has significant practical implications for anyone facing a homicide accusation in Nevada: