{"data":{"id":"us-md/md.-code-criminal-law-2-201","jurisdiction":"us-md","citation":"Md. Code, Criminal Law § 2–201","heading":"","body":"(a) A murder is in the first degree if it is:\n(1) a deliberate, premeditated, and willful killing;\n(2) committed by lying in wait;\n(3) committed by poison; or\n(4) committed in the perpetration of or an attempt to perpetrate:\n(i) arson in the first degree;\n(ii) burning a barn, stable, tobacco house, warehouse, or other outbuilding that:\n1. is not parcel to a dwelling; and\n2. contains cattle, goods, wares, merchandise, horses, grain, hay, or tobacco;\n(iii) burglary in the first, second, or third degree;\n(iv) carjacking or armed carjacking;\n(v) escape in the first degree from a State correctional facility or a local correctional facility;\n(vi) kidnapping under § 3–502 or § 3–503(a)(2) of this article;\n(vii) mayhem;\n(viii) rape;\n(ix) robbery under § 3–402 or § 3–403 of this article;\n(x) sexual offense in the first or second degree;\n(xi) sodomy as that crime existed before October 1, 2020; or\n(xii) a violation of § 4–503 of this article concerning destructive devices.\n(b) (1) A person who commits a murder in the first degree is guilty of a felony and on conviction shall be sentenced to:\n(i) imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole; or\n(ii) imprisonment for life.\n(2) Unless a sentence of imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole is imposed in compliance with § 2–203 of this subtitle and § 2–304 of this title, the sentence shall be imprisonment for life.\n(c) A person who solicits another or conspires with another to commit murder in the first degree is guilty of murder in the first degree if the death of another occurs as a result of the solicitation or conspiracy.","path":["Article - Criminal Law"],"source_url":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcr\u0026section=2-201","current_through":"2026-01-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:57:08Z","sha256":"ac4117ceacda2d2a6305703e97034506de1a17d742f36596647a4c489544f5c0","source_id":"us-md","stale":false,"prev":"us-md/md.-code-criminal-law-2-103","next":"us-md/md.-code-criminal-law-2-203"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}