California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Fuentes, D074195 (Cal. App. 2019):
A "willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing" is murder in the first degree. ( 189.) Willful means intentional. ( 7, subd. (1).6) "A willful murder is an intentional murder, and malice is express when there is an intent to unlawfully kill a human being." (People v. Moon (2005) 37 Cal.4th 1, 29 (Moon).) First and second degree murders are both willful, i.e. intentional. First degree murder requires, in addition, premeditation and deliberation. "In the context of first degree murder, premeditation means considered beforehand and deliberation means a careful weighing of considerations in forming a course of action. . . . The process of premeditation and deliberation does not require any extended period of time. [T]he true test of premeditation is the extent of the reflection, not the length of time. Thoughts may follow each other with great rapidity and cold,
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calculated judgment may be arrived at quickly . . . ." (People v. Salazar (2016) 63 Cal.4th 214, 245 (Salazar), citations and internal quotation marks omitted.) Planning, motive, prior relationship with victim, and manner of killing can all show premeditation and deliberation, "but these factors are not exclusive nor are they invariably determinative." (People v. Marks (2003) 31 Cal.4th 197, 230; People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal.2d 15, 26-27).
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