§ 13A-5-40 — Capital Offenses. (Amended by Act 2026-55)

AMENDED BY ACT 2026-55, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE.
(a) The following are capital offenses:
(1) Murder by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant.
(2) Murder by the defendant during a robbery in the first degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant.
(3) Murder by the defendant during a rape in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant; or murder by the defendant during sodomy in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant.
(4) Murder by the defendant during a burglary in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant.
(5) Murder of any police officer, sheriff, deputy, state trooper, federal law enforcement officer, or any other state or federal peace officer of any kind, or prison or jail guard, while the officer or guard is on duty, regardless of whether the defendant knew or should have known the victim was an officer or guard on duty, or because of some official or job-related act or performance of the officer or guard.
(6) Murder committed while the defendant is under sentence of life imprisonment.
(7) Murder done for a pecuniary or other valuable consideration or pursuant to a contract or for hire.
(8) Murder by the defendant during sexual abuse in the first or second degree or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant.
(9) Murder by the defendant during arson in the first or second degree committed by the defendant; or murder by the defendant by means of explosives or explosion.
(10) Murder wherein two or more persons are murdered by the defendant by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.
(11) Murder by the defendant when the victim is a state or federal public official or former public official and the murder stems from or is caused by or is related to his official position, act, or capacity.
(12) Murder by the defendant during the act of unlawfully assuming control of any aircraft by use of threats or force with intent to obtain any valuable consideration for the release of the aircraft or any passenger or crewmen thereon, to direct the route or movement of the aircraft, or otherwise exert control over the aircraft.
(13) Murder by a defendant who has been convicted of any other murder in the 20 years preceding the crime; provided that the murder which constitutes the capital crime shall be murder as defined in subsection (b); and provided further that the prior murder conviction referred to shall include murder in any degree as defined at the time and place of the prior conviction.
(14) Murder when the victim is subpoenaed, or has been subpoenaed, to testify, or the victim had testified, in any preliminary hearing, grand jury proceeding, criminal trial or criminal proceeding of whatever nature, or civil trial or civil proceeding of whatever nature, in any municipal, state, or federal court, when the murder stems from, is caused by, or is related to the capacity or role of the victim as a witness.
(15) Murder when the victim is less than fourteen years of age.
(16) Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon fired or otherwise used from outside a dwelling while the victim is in a dwelling.
(17) Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle.
(18) Murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon fired or otherwise used within or from a vehicle.
(19) Murder by the defendant where a court had issued a protective order for the victim, against the defendant, pursuant to Section 30-5-1 et seq., or the protective order was issued as a condition of the defendant’s pretrial release.
(20) Murder by the defendant in the presence of a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the offense, if the victim was the parent or legal guardian of the child. For purposes of this subsection, “in the presence of a child” means in the physical presence of a child or having knowledge that a child is present and may see or hear the act.
(21) Murder when the victim is a first responder who is operating in an official capacity. For the purposes of this subdivision, first responder includes emergency medical services personnel licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health and firefighters and volunteer firefighters as defined by Section 36-32-1.
(b) Except as specifically provided to the contrary in the last part of subdivision (a)(13), the terms “murder” and “murder by the defendant” as used in this section to define capital offenses mean murder as defined in Section 13A-6-2(a)(1), but not as defined in Section 13A-6-2(a)(2) and (3). Subject to the provisions of Section 13A-5-41, murder as defined in Section 13A-6-2(a)(2) and (3), as well as murder as defined in Section 13A-6-2(a)(1), may be a lesser included offense of the capital offenses defined in subsection (a).
(c) A defendant who does not personally commit the act of killing which constitutes the murder is not guilty of a capital offense defined in subsection (a) unless that defendant is legally accountable for the murder because of complicity in the murder itself under the provisions of Section 13A-2-23, in addition to being guilty of the other elements of the capital offense as defined in subsection (a).
(d) To the extent that a crime other than murder is an element of a capital offense defined in subsection (a), a defendant’s guilt of that other crime may also be established under Section 13A-2-23. When the defendant’s guilt of that other crime is established under Section 13A-2-23, that crime shall be deemed to have been “committed by the defendant” within the meaning of that phrase as it is used in subsection (a).

Legislative History

(Acts 1981, No. 81-178, p. 203, §2; Acts 1982, No. 82-567, p. 945, §1; Acts 1987, No. 87-709, p. 1252, §3; Acts 1992, No. 92-601, p. 1247, §1; Acts 1994, No. 94-649, §1; Act 2014-435, p. 1610, §2; Act 2018-537, §2; Act 2019-514, §2.)