Misdemeanor murder, or Misdemeanor Homicide, is a term used to describe a situation in which a person is suspected of murder, but there is not enough evidence to convict the suspect of murder in court. The suspect is then either released without charges or the suspect receives a sentence that is similar to a sentence given to a person charged with a misdemeanor. It is not an official term and it is not an offense defined by the criminal code of the United States or any state thereof. It is a term used among legal practitioners, lawyers, to describe a murder involving an unsympathetic victim or an an assailant who is released due to the Police Departments' inability to process or preserve crime scene evidence due a jurisdiction's overburdened justice system. Moreover, Prosecutors engage in plea-bargaining to reduce their caseload, knowing the suspects will most likely violate probation, making it easier to prosecute at a later date.
