P. v. Herbert
Defendant, a nursing assistant who worked in a group home for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, was convicted of second degree murder. The evidence showed that she struck one of the children in her care and lacerated the childs liver, causing the childs death. On appeal, she contends that because there was substantial evidence to support an instruction on voluntary manslaughter, the courts refusal to give such an instruction was error. She also contends that the courts effort to clarify the definition of conscious disregard for human life was misleading to the extent that it deprived her of a finding by the jury of each element of second degree murder. She argues that each error, standing alone, requires reversal of her conviction, or in the alternative, that the two errors were cumulatively prejudicial. The judgment is affirmed.
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