What constitutes a "lie in wait" for a defendant to commit a murder?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Hillhouse, 117 Cal.Rptr.2d 45, 27 Cal.4th 469, 40 P.3d 754 (Cal. 2002):
It is undisputed that defendant concealed his purpose to kill the victim until he felt the circumstances were conducive to committing the crime, but that is not enough to constitute lying in wait. If it were, most premeditated murders would involve lying in wait and this special circumstance would not perform its function of narrowing "`the class of persons eligible for the death penalty'" and so "afford some objective basis for distinguishing a case in which the death penalty has been imposed from the many cases in which it has not." (People v. Bacigalupo, supra, 6 Cal.4th 457, 465, 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 808, 862 P.2d 808.) Moreover, mere advance planning or waiting for an opportune moment
[117 Cal.Rptr.2d 81]
to attack the victim, without more, does not constitute lying in wait. The period of watchful waiting must result in the defendant achieving a position of advantage from which he or she can launch a surprise attack upon an unsuspecting victim.[117 Cal.Rptr.2d 81]
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