Treachery

Treachery is a characteristic that differentiates the crime of murder from murder and consists of using means to ensure the commission of the crime, ensuring that the person cannot defend himself.

Treachery is a distinguishing feature of murder. That is, the crime punished for killing a person. The treachery allows to differentiate two crimes that result in the death of another person, these are homicide and murder.

Therefore, treachery means ensuring the execution of the crime and causing the absence of risk to the defense that the person who supports this crime could do. It is an aggravating factor in the criminal responsibility of someone who kills another person.

Characteristics

Some of the classic characteristics of treachery would be:

• Any means, manner or form that ensures the commission of the crime will be understood as treachery.
• Treachery does not require premeditation. That is, it does not require preparation of the crime, it can arise at the time of executing the act.
• The means of carrying out the crime itself can be understood as treachery, such as a fire.
• It must cause a total defenselessness of the victim.
• There must be fraud. Which means that you must know what you are doing and want to do it.

Types of treachery

Several types of treachery could be found according to their premeditation:

• Productive treachery: It is a premeditated treachery, there has been a surveillance of the victim.
• Sudden treachery: It is understood as a betrayal. That is, it takes advantage of the trust placed in the attacker by the victim
• Treachery of helplessness: There is not so much premeditation, it simply takes advantage of a circumstance of the taxpayer, of the victim that makes him more defenseless, such as an old man.

An example of treachery is drugging a person, minimizing their ability to react to any attack.