P. v. Alcaraz
Defendant Thomas Eugene Alcaraz and his brother Ruben were in a car when four men violently attacked them. One of them hit defendant with a broken bottle, and then he and another punched and beat him while the two other assailants beat Ruben. When a police officer arrived, three of the assailants ran off. When the fourth fled, defendant immediately retrieved a gun and shot and killed him. The jury was instructed on murder and voluntary manslaughter under three theories, including heat of passion. Under that theory, the malice required for murder is negated and murder is reduced to manslaughter where the defendant was provoked, he or she acted rashly under the influence of an intense emotion, and the provocation was enough to cause a person of average disposition to act rashly. Here, however, because of instructional error, jurors were erroneously led to believe that the provocation would also have to cause an average person to do what defendant didi.e., shoot and kill someone in front of the police.
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