Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The law generally differentiates between levels of criminal culpability based on the mens rea, or state of mind. This is particularly true within the law of homicide, where murder requires either the intent to kill — a state of mind called malice — or malice aforethought, which may involve an unintentional killing but with a willful disregard for life. Manslaughter i… (More on Manslaughter)