Opinion ID: 1421674
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the trial court err in giving a manslaughter instruction?

Text: The trial court did not err in giving a manslaughter instruction. In potential death penalty cases, we require trial judges to instruct the jury on all lesser included offenses of homicide supported by the evidence. State v. Vickers, 129 Ariz. 506, 513, 633 P.2d 315, 321-22 (1981); Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980). Because appellant was charged with first-degree murder, in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-1105 and 13-703, this was a potential death penalty case. Thus, instruction on manslaughter was proper if it was supported by the evidence. Manslaughter can be committed in a variety of ways. See A.R.S. § 13-1103. For purposes of this case, manslaughter is the killing of a person upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion resulting from adequate provocation by the victim. A.R.S. § 13-1103(A)(2). Appellant testified that he thought the victim had thrown something at his car. He stated that he stopped the car, got out, and approached the man. As he got closer the man tried to strike him with his fists and hit him several times in the face. From this testimony, the jury might well have concluded that this altercation stemmed from the victim's attack. A physician testified that it was unlikely that the victim would have survived long with the wounds he received. Thus, the jury might have disbelieved appellant's testimony that the victim had been stabbed prior to this incident. The jury could have properly concluded that appellant, angered by the victim's attack, fought back with a knife. The evidence was sufficient to support the trial judge's manslaughter instruction. Appellant further contends that he was misled into believing that the state only wished to pursue a charge of first-degree murder. Appellant claims that he was not given notice that the state would try to obtain a conviction for a lesser included offense. This, appellant says, caused him to structure his defense only against first-degree murder and not against the lesser included charges. According to appellant's lawyer, appellant would not have taken the stand had they known he risked conviction of one of the lesser included offenses of homicide. We find this argument without merit for the same reasons that we found the manslaughter instruction proper. Case law required the trial court to instruct on those lesser included offenses supported by the evidence. Similarly, the allegation of first-degree murder in the indictment should have put the appellant on notice of potential conviction of a lesser included offense. 17 A.R.S. Rules of Crim.Proc., rule 13.2(c). Appellant was not denied notice of the charges against him.