18 U.S.C. § 2245
Section 2245 · Offenses resulting in death
This is § 60010 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 76 court decisions — leading case Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008)
Most recently applied in People v. Smart (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) 1 In General.—A person who, in the course of an offense under this chapter, or section 1591, 2251, 2251A, 2260, 2421, 2422, 2423, or 2425, murders an individual, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 2245 was renumbered section 2246 of this title.
Amendments
2006—Pub. L. 109–248 amended section catchline and text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “A person who, in the course of an offense under this chapter, engages in conduct that results in the death of a person, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.”