Opinion ID: 1318712
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Purposely:

Text: We have quoted from this court's opinion in Dean v. State, supra, that any intent to be derived from the terms willfully and maliciously is a general intent. We went on in Dean to say that: `   [W]illfully means intentionally, knowingly, purposely, voluntarily, consciously, deliberately, and without justifiable excuse, as distinguished from carelessly, inadvertently, accidentally, negligently, heedlessly, or thoughtlessly. [Citations.]' Matter of Adoption of CCT, Wyo., 640 P.2d 73, 76 (1982). (Emphasis added.) 668 P.2d at 642. See also Saldana v. State, Wyo., 685 P.2d 20 (1984), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 105 S.Ct. 2331, 85 L.Ed.2d 848 (1985). Thus, we held in Dean that willfully and maliciously were general-intent elements. We defined willfully and purposely as being synonymous in Matter of Adoption of CCT, Wyo., 640 P.2d 73, (1982). Purposely is the requirement of the second-degree murder statute. Therefore, purposely is a general-intent element. The word purposely as used in the second-degree murder statute describes the act to be committed and not an intention to produce a desired, specific result. Dean v. State, supra. The element which makes first-degree murder a specific-intent crime and separates it from the general-intent crime of second-degree murder, is the element of premeditation. In State v. Sheets, 94 N.M. 356, 610 P.2d 760, 770 (1980), the New Mexico Court of Appeals said that the term willfulness is covered in the general-intent jury instruction by the words purposely does an act, and an instruction on general intent must be given to a jury following instructions on second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. State v. Curlee, 98 N.M. 576, 651 P.2d 111, 112, cert. denied 98 N.M. 590, 651 P.2d 636 (1982). In New Mexico, as in Wyoming, willfully and purposely are synonymous, are general-intent elements, and second-degree murder is a general-intent crime. The word willfully was also defined in the California Penal Code:    The word has the meaning defined in Penal Code section 7, subdivision 1, which specified that `The word willfully when applied to the intent with which an act is done or omitted, implies simply a purpose or willingness to commit the act, or make the omission referred to. It does not require any intent to violate law, or injure another, or to acquire any advantage.' People v. Atkins, 125 Cal. Rptr. 855, 861, 53 Cal. App.3d 348 (1975). The defendant in Atkins was convicted of willfully inflicting corporal punishment on a child, generating the above discussion concerning the word willfully. He was also convicted of second-degree murder in the beating death of his girl friend's two-and-one-half-year-old son, and the California Court of Appeal held that the trial court's refusal to give a specific-intent instruction was not only errorless  it would have been error to give it.