Murder

The sin of Murder is defined by Judgment as taking human life without justification. (Killing another angel's vessel is also a crime, of course, but not Murder, while killing a demon's vessel is usually perfectly acceptable.)

Judgment's view of "justification" differs from how an Earthly court might see it. There are three requirements for a "justified killing" of a human:

• The angel must have acted selflessly. (Even a "necessary" killing can get an angel in trouble if he actually disliked the human and wanted him dead...)
• The killing must have furthered Heaven's cause. (Strengthening a divine Word furthers Heaven's cause by definition, but furthering the angel's personal agenda is more of a gray area, since the angel may or may not have been acting in Heaven's best interests...)
• It must have been the most reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

The last condition is the most subjective, but in general, it's interpreted to mean "only kill if it's necessary and unavoidable." (Usually a Triad of Judgment will make the call, using their usual voting method.) If the Triad thinks that the angel could have solved the problem without bloodshed, the killer will probably be tried for murder. Any killing that fails any of the above three criteria will result in a trial.

In practice, angels can usually get away with killing Hellsworn mortals or individuals who are truly evil, if they can convince Judgment that the human truly deserved death. (And selling your soul to Hell makes you deserving of death in Judgment's eyes.) Even in the case of Soldiers of Hell, though, an angel who goes hunting Hellsworn just because he can will probably get in trouble.

Note that causing a disturbance is a separate crime, and while a death might be ruled justifiable and therefore not Murder, angels who kill humans noisily may be charged with this lesser crime. (If you must kill, angels are expected to try to minimize the disturbance. Blowing up a carload of Hellsworn mortals might be considered a justifiable killing, but still get the angel in trouble for not finding a quieter way to do it....)

Manslaughter

Demons, of course, do not consider murder a sin. However, Asmodeus has made "manslaughter" a crime. Any killing of a human is manslaughter. Asmodeus doesn't actually value human life, of course. It's just that killing humans is (a) noisy (it makes a loud disturbance), (b) obvious (a messy way to get a job done, and one likely to alert the Host as to diabolical activities), and (c) may result in giving a human a chance at reincarnation, or worse, send him to Heaven, before he's met his Fate and guaranteed that Hell will get his soul.

Manslaughter can be justified. The Asmodean legal code detailing the conditions under which manslaughter is justifiable is a very thick volume in itself, but as a practical matter, a demon just has to convince the Asmodean accusing him that it was necessary. Obviously, being of high rank and/or offering a sufficient bribe is the best way to get away with manslaughter (as it is for any crime), but evidence that the demon did his best to minimize the disturbance helps, as does evidence that the human was probably going to Hell. (Yes, this means a demon is more likely to get in trouble for killing a Soldier of God than he is for killing Hellsworn.)

In Dallas, it is the disturbance involved with manslaughter that concerns Asmodeus the most. Demons are expected to avoid killing humans as much as possible, and when absolutely necessary, do it through their own human agents. A demon who kills a human himself had better try to use his Role and/or any other means at his disposal to reduce the disturbance; any killing that rings out loud in the Symphony will be treated as a serious offense.