Title: Criminal sentencing in the United States - Wikipedia
Headings: Criminal sentencing in the United States
Criminal sentencing in the United States
Contents
Indeterminate sentencing
Determinate sentencing
Trends in sentencing law
Sentencing of killers
Arizona
Florida
Hawaii
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Nevada
Washington
Criminal Sentencing of Women
See also
References

Content: Sentencing of killers
The United States does not have a specific guideline to sentencing murderers, including serial killers. When a killer is apprehended, he will be charged with murder, and if convicted can get life in prison or receive the death penalty, depending on in which state the murders took place. Generally speaking, each victim of a murder will merit a separate charge of murder against the offender, and as such, the killer could get a life sentence, a death sentence, or some other determinate or indeterminate sentence based upon the number of murders, the evidence presented, and any aggravating or mitigating circumstances present. Such a compounded sentence may be tailored to run consecutively, with one sentence beginning after completion of another, or concurrently, where all or most of several sentences are served together. Below are several examples of how a murderer may be sentenced, by state: Arizona
In Arizona, a person is guilty of murder if an offender knowingly and intentionally causes the death of a person. The murder must be premeditated. If an individual is found guilty of murder, there are three possible sentences: 35 years to life, life without parole, or the death penalty. Florida
In Florida, a person is guilty of first degree murder when it is perpetrated from a premeditated design to result in the death of a human being.