Found this site which explains the charging system in USA.
I think it is useful and can help people, especially those outside the USA (like me) understand the legal jargon that is going around about Dr Murray.
Now i have read this i understand why Murray would be charged with "3rd degree murder - involuntary manslaughter"
There's a lot of controversy surrounding the reported decision to charge Murray with involuntary manslaughter as opposed to murder. Here are the legal definitions for each charge:
1st Degree Murder
In order for someone to be found guilty of first degree murder the government must prove that the person killed another person; the person killed the other person with malice aforethought; and the killing was premeditated.
To kill with malice aforethought means to kill either deliberately and intentionally or recklessly with extreme disregard for human life.
Premeditation means with planning or deliberation. The amount of time needed for premeditation of a killing depends on the person and the circumstances. It must be long enough, after forming the intent to kill, for the killer to have been fully conscious of the intent and to have considered the killing.
First-degree murder in California includes a killing that is "willful, deliberate, and premeditated," or that is committed in the perpetration, or attempt to perpetrate, certain felonies, including burglary, and not including the petty offense of shoplifting. Cal. Penal Code S 189.[1]
First degree murder is often referred to as "cold-blooded" murder because it is calculated and committed willfully with the intention to kill or do serious harm.[2]
2nd Degree Murder: Voluntary Manslaughter
Second degree murder is a death which results from an assault which is likely to cause death. Second degree murder is distinguished from first degree murder, which is a premeditated, intentional killing or results from a vicious crime such as arson, rape or armed robbery. Second degree murder is not murder committed in the "heat of passion". Murder in the second degree includes homicides committed with malice aforethought, that lack deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, or participation in a felony punishable by life imprisonment. To prove murder in the second degree, the state must establish that the perpetrator committed the killing with malice. As with murder in the first degree, malice means an intent to inflict grievous bodily injury without legal justification, or an intent to act in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury. The malice element does not require an intent to cause a death. Laws defining second degree murder vary by state.[3]
Murder in the second degree is the crime of murdering in "the heat of passion" which can involve situations where a person acts during a period of intense fear, rage, anger, terror, or fear. This type of murder is often considered voluntary manslaughter. This type of murder can also occur when death results in the perpetration of another criminal act.[4]
3rd Degree Murder: Involuntary Manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter is murder that was not intended specifically by the defendant. Criminal negligence is often the precursor to involuntary manslaughter. Reckless use of a motor vehicle, firearms, explosives, animals, medicine, and the like that results in the death of a person falls under this category of murder. Some states also consider it murder to cause or aid another's suicide, or to supply drugs which result in death.
In order for a person to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter the government must prove that someone was killed as a result of an act by the person;
Second, in the circumstances existing at the time, the person's act either was by its nature dangerous to human life or was done with reckless disregard for human life; and
Third, the person either knew that such conduct was a threat to the lives of others or knew of circumstances that would reasonably cause the person to foresee that such conduct might be a threat to the lives of others.[6]
http://dearconradmurray.com/?p=86
