Can a jury convict a defendant of attempted murder on the theory of implied malice?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. PIMENTEL, F058532, Super. Ct. No. 08CM7049 (Cal. App. 2011):

disregard for, human life.'" (People v. Jeter (2005) 125 Cal.App.4th 1212, 1216.) Thus, malice aforethought can be express or implied: it is express when the defendant manifests "a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature" ( 188); it is implied when "'"the killing proximately resulted from an act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to life, which act was deliberately performed by a person who knows that his conduct endangers the life of another and who acts with conscious disregard for life."'" (People v. Dellinger (1989) 49 Cal.3d 1212, 1218.)

We must consider the instructions as a whole to determine whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury improperly construed them to convict Avelar of the attempted murder on the theory of implied malice. (People v. Campos (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 1228, 1237.) CALCRIM No. 600 correctly states the elements of attempted murder, unambiguously instructing that attempted murder requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Avelar intended to kill his victim. Nothing in that instruction suggests that the jury could find Avelar guilty of attempted murder with implied malice.

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