California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Duarte, F073119 (Cal. App. 2018):
"This standard of review . . . applies to circumstantial evidence. [Citation.] If the circumstances, plus all the logical inferences the jury might have drawn from them, reasonably justify the jury's findings, our opinion that the circumstances might also reasonably be reconciled with a contrary finding does not warrant a reversal of the judgment. [Citations.]" (People v. Tripp, supra, 151 Cal.App.4th at p. 955.)
" 'Second degree murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought, but without the additional elementsi.e., willfulness, premeditation, and deliberationthat would support a conviction of first degree murder.' [Citations.] 'Malice may be either express or implied.' [Citation.] It is express 'when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature.' [Citation.] It is implied 'when the killing results from an intentional act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to life, which act was deliberately performed by a person who knows that his [or her] conduct endangers the life of another and who acts with conscious disregard for life.' [Citations.]" (People v. Jimenez (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 1337, 1358; see People v. Olivas (1985) 172 Cal.App.3d 984, 988 ["[T]he state of mind of a person who acts with conscious disregard for life is, 'I know my conduct is dangerous to others, but I don't care if someone is hurt or killed.' "].)
" 'Implied malice is determined by examining the defendant's subjective mental state to see if he or she actually appreciated the risk of his or her actions.' [Citation.] 'It is not enough that a reasonable person would have been aware of the risk.' [Citations.] 'It is unnecessary that implied malice be proven by an admission or other direct evidence of the defendant's mental state; like all other elements of a crime, implied malice may be proven by circumstantial evidence.' [Citations.]" (People v. Jimenez, supra, 242 Cal.App.4th at p. 1358.)
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