168
Opinion of the Court
Schedules I, II, III, IV, or V of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law. "(7) When the offender has specific intent to kill and is engaged in the activities prohibited by R. S. 14:107.1(C)(1).
. . . . .
"C. Whoever commits the crime of first degree murder shall be punished by death or life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence in accordance with the determination of the jury." La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:30 (West 1986 and Supp. 1997) (emphasis added).
This statute says that murder in the first degree shall be punished by "death or life imprisonment" without parole. It defines first-degree murder as the "killing of a human being" with a "specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm" where the "offender" is committing certain other felonies or has been paid for the crime or kills more than one victim, or kills a fireman, a peace officer, someone over the age of 64, or someone under the age of 12. In this case, the jury found that the defendant killed a child under the age of 12 with a "specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm" upon that child.
In deciding whether the ACA assimilates Louisiana's law, we first ask whether the defendant's "act or omission" is "made punishable by any enactment of Congress." 18 U. S. C. § 13(a) (emphasis added); see supra, at 164. The answer to this question is "yes." An "enactment of Congress," namely, § 1111, makes the defendant's "act . . . punishable" as second-degree murder. This answer is not conclusive, however, for reasons we have pointed out. Rather, we must ask a second question. See supra, at 164-165. Does applicable federal law indicate an intent to punish conduct such as the defendant's to the exclusion of the particular state statute at issue?
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