California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Corpuz, A121199, San Francisco City and County Super. Ct. No. 19507 (Cal. App. 2011):
The People assert the "trial court's analysis reflects a misunderstanding of the element of deliberation" and that "substantial credible evidence supports the jury's finding of premeditation and deliberation here." The People contend that, "[g]iven the strength of this evidence [of deliberation], which the trial court did not reject, it was error for the trial court to conclude that the victim's laughter and minor insults, and [defendant's] own description of the killing as reflexive and explosive, precluded a finding of deliberation." This essentially asks us to reweigh the evidence, which we will not do in determining whether substantial evidence supports the court's determination. (See People v. Martinez (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 400, 412 [discussing the standard for assessing on appeal the sufficiency of evidence of premeditation and deliberation].) Moreover, we have carefully reviewed both the video and transcript of defendant's September 24 and 25 interviews, and conclude that defendant did not contradict himself when he told police that at the moment he stood up with the knife in the bedroom, he intended to kill himself.
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