Sanhedrin 9:2-3
Sanhedrin 9:2
If a person intended to kill an animal but he ended up killing a person, if he intended to kill an idolator but he ended up killing a Jew, if he intended to kill an infant that wasn’t viable but he ended up killing an infant that was viable – in all of these cases, the perpetrator is exempt from execution. If he intended to deliver a non-fatal blow to the victim’s loins but he ended up striking him in the heart where the blow was fatal, he is exempt from execution; if he intended to deliver a fatal blow to the victim’s heart but he ended up striking him on the loins where it should not have been a fatal blow but the victim died anyway, he is exempt from execution. If he intended to strike an adult with a blow that would not kill an adult but he ended up striking a child, and the blow was sufficient to kill a child and he died, the killer is exempt. If he intended to strike a child with a blow that was sufficient to kill a child but he ended up striking an adult with a blow that was not sufficient to kill an adult, but he died anyway, the killer is exempt. (In all of the preceding cases, the killer lacks sufficient intention to be executed.) However, if he intended to strike the victim on the loins with a fatal blow but he ended up striking him on the heart and he died, the killer is liable. If he intended to strike an adult a fatal blow but he ended up striking a child and he died, the killer is liable. Rabbi Shimon says that even if a person intended to kill one victim but he ended up killing a different victim, he is exempt.
Sanhedrin 9:3
If a condemned murderer was mixed up with others (also murderers, whose sentences have not yet been pronounced), they all are exempt. Rabbi Yehuda says that they are brought into the dome (a prison, where they will starve). If people sentenced to different forms of death penalty became mixed up, they are executed by the most lenient form of execution. If those sentenced to stoning became mixed up with those sentenced to burning, Rabbi Shimon says that they are executed by stoning because burning is the harsher form of execution; the Sages say that they are executed by burning because stoning is the harsher form of execution. Rabbi Shimon said to the Sages that if burning were not harsher, it would not be the sentence for a kohein’s daughter who commits adultery. They replied that if stoning were not harsher, it would not be the sentence for a blasphemer and an idolator. If those who are to be executed by beheading became mixed with those who are to be executed by strangulation, Rabbi Shimon says they are executed by beheading and the Sages say they are executed by strangulation.