Capital Offence

What does Capital Offence mean in American Law?

The definition of Capital Offence in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

Those crimes which can cost you your head, i.e., which are punishable by death. It is not necessary to be a “capital offense” that a death sentence actually be imposed but only that it might have been. See also capital punishment.