Opinion ID: 2543721
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Instruction on Premeditation

Text: Pabst claims the district court erred by failing to provide an additional instruction on the definition of premeditation. The district court instructed the jury that [p]remeditation means to have thought over the matter beforehand, in conformity with Pattern Instructions for Kansas (PIK) Crim.3d 56.04(b) (premeditation). During the instructions conference, Pabst's counsel cited the concurring opinion in State v. Saleem, 267 Kan. 100, 977 P.2d 921 (1999), and requested the following additional language: Premeditation means something more than the instantaneous intentional act of taking another's life. To have thought the matter over beforehand means to form a design or intent to kill before the act. The district court denied counsel's request, citing State v. Jamison, 269 Kan. 564, 7 P.3d 1204 (2000). Saleem held: Premeditation as an element of first-degree murder means to have thought over the matter beforehand. 267 Kan. 100, Syl. ¶ 2. Our standard of review is whether the instruction given properly and fairly stated the law as applied to the facts of the case and whether the instruction reasonably could have misled the jury. See State v. Carr, 265 Kan. 608, 617, 963 P.2d 421 (1998). The State argues that there was no objection by Pabst to the failure to give his requested instruction. The State concludes that the clearly erroneous standard of review should be applied. This conclusion lacks merit. We have said: It is well established that this court reviews a trial court's failure to give an instruction by a clearly erroneous standard where the party neither requested the instruction nor objected to its omission. (Emphasis added.) State v. Sperry, 267 Kan. 287, 294, 978 P.2d 933 (1999). Here, Pabst requested the additional instruction. In Jamison, we expressly approved the PIK Crim.3d 56.04(b) definition of premeditation given here. We recognized that in Saleem, the concurring opinion expressed disagreement with PIK Crim.3d 56.04(b) and our statement that the definition of premeditation is to have thought over the matter beforehand. 269 Kan. at 573. We found that the PIK definition adequately conveys the concept that `premeditation' means something more than the instantaneous, intentional act of taking another's life. 269 Kan. at 573. The district court did not err in refusing to provide the requested additional instruction regarding premeditation.