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2. The defendant may be found guilty of murder
Assume that the jury makes the following findings: the defendant did not act in a rage provoked by the victim's accusations, the defendant intended either to kill or to inflict serious bodily harm, and the killing occurred in the course of an aggravated assault.
This jurisdiction defines aggravated assault as an assault with any weapon or dangerous implement and punishes it as a felony. It defines murder as the unlawful killing of a person with malice aforethought or in the course of an independent felony.
At a party for coworkers at a defendant's home, the victim accused the defendant of making advances toward his wife. The victim and his wife left the party. The next day at work, the defendant saw the victim and struck him on the head with a soft-drink bottle. The victim fell into a coma and died two weeks after the incident.
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Voluntary manslaughter is a killing resulting from an adequate provocation (heat of passion killing) or imperfect self-defense. Adequate provocation requires that provocation would cause sudden and intense passion in an ordinary person, causing him to lose self-control; the defendant was in fact provoked; there was insufficient time for an ordinary person to cool off, and the defendant did not cool off.
C is correct. Here, the facts tell us the jury found that the defendant intended to either kill or to inflict serious bodily harm. This satisfies the malice aforethought requirement under the definition of murder. Because the defendant killed the victim with malice aforethought (with the intent to kill or to inflict serious bodily harm), he should be found guilty of murder.
A is incorrect. It misstates the requirements of malice aforethought. Malice aforethought can be found not only by the intent to kill but also by the intent to inflict serious bodily harm. Accordingly, the answer is wrong because it is incomplete; it fails to address the jury's finding that the defendant either intended to kill or to inflict serious bodily harm.
B is incorrect. Here, a significant amount of time had passed between the provoking event and the defendant's actions, so there is no «heat of passion» defense. Furthermore, it is possible for the jury to find that the defendant was provoked by the victim and acted in a rage, but still find him guilty of murder if the rage or the provocation was unreasonable or insufficient to constitute an adequate «heat of passion» killing.
D is incorrect. This jurisdiction defines felony murder as an unlawful killing in the course of an independent felony. An independent felony is one that is not part of the act of the killing. For example, manslaughter and aggravated battery usually do not qualify because they are not independent acts from the killing. Here, aggravated assault would be a lesser-included offense for felony murder purposes. Therefore, aggravated assault is not considered an independent felony for the purpose of felony murder. Typically the only felonies that will support a felony murder conviction are burglary, arson, rape, robbery, and kidnapping.