Adultery

Occasionally, adultery has been successfully asserted as a defense to the crime of murder by an individual charged with killing his or her spouse's lover. Courts are loath, however, to excuse the heinous crime of murder on the ground that the accused party was agitated about a spouse's adulterous activities. However, individuals who kill their spouse after catching him or her committing adultery may be able to rely on a heat of passion defense, and thereby face prosecution or conviction for MANSLAUGHTER, rather than first degree murder.