What are the elements of premeditated murder?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Bloom, 259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 48 Cal.3d 1194, 774 P.2d 698 (Cal. 1989):

This court has identified three categories of evidence which serve to sustain a finding of premeditated murder: (1) evidence of prior planning of the killing; (2) evidence of a prior relationship and/or conduct with the victim from which the jury could infer a motive to kill; and (3) evidence that the manner of the killing was so particular and exacting that the killing must have been according to a preconceived design. (People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal.2d 15, 26-27, 73 Cal.Rptr. 550, 447 P.2d 942.) To sustain a verdict of first degree murder it is not necessary that all three types of evidence be present; extremely strong evidence of prior planning alone will be sufficient, as will evidence of motive in conjunction with evidence of either prior planning or a particular and exacting method of killing. (Id. at p. 27, 73 Cal.Rptr. 550, 447 P.2d 942.)

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