California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Rodriguez, B288701 (Cal. App. 2019):
Moreover, the jury could reasonably infer Rodriguez was considering whether to kill Flores from the time he discovered the counterfeit card had failed to work until he shot Flores in the hotel room. (See People v. Brady, supra, 50 Cal.4th at pp. 563-
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564 ["[a] rational trier of fact could have concluded defendant, knowing he illegally possessed a firearm, rapidly and coldly formed the idea to kill" police officer while the officer twice instructed defendant to move his car, followed defendant to parking lot, initiated traffic stop, got out of patrol vehicle and talked with defendant, even though these events occurred "all within the space of a few minutes"]; People v. Millwee (1998) 18 Cal.4th 96, 134-135 ["defendant had ample opportunity while traveling up the hill and retrieving the gun to consider whether and how to use lethal force in order to remove property from the house"].) Rodriguez's silence during the return trip, his visible anger and the statement he wanted to show Flores he "wasn't messing around" all constitute evidence supporting this inference.
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