Court Opinion

ID: 9546317
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:27:30.538708+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:15.930147
License: Public Domain

EDMONDS, J.
I concur in the affirmance of the judgment of conviction. Certainly, Caldwell’s threats to take Lily’s life, followed by his killing of her, give rise,to an inference that the murder was premeditated. In my opinion, however, that conclusion is inconsistent with People v. Holt, 25 Cal.2d 59 [153 P.2d 21], where the defendant made similar threats before taking the life of his victim. The Holt case is distinguished upon the ground that, after firing the lethal bullet, Holt “with eight loaded cartridges remaining in his rifle stopped firing . . . and . . . permitted the deceased to turn and walk away.” But evidence of the activities of the accused after he shot the victim or inflicted a lethal blow, to the extent that it bears at all upon the question of premeditation, could create only a conflict.
In view of the present decision, the Holt case should be overruled.