California Court of Appeal

Defendant's conviction for second degree murder is reversed and remanded, where: 1) the failure to instruct the jury on the potential effect of provocation to negate malice aforethought was federal constitutional error; and 2) because the jury was not instructed that it could consider provocation to reduce a murder to manslaughter, the error was prejudicial under the test articulated in Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/01/2013
• Published 08/01/2013

Judges

• SIGGINS

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel