Court Opinion

ID: 9576004
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:19:36.739835+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:54:34.674192
License: Public Domain

Gerrard, J.,
concurring.
I agree with the judgment of the majority. However, my view is that criminal homicide as the result of legally recognized provocation, i.e., upon a sudden quarrel, distinguishes the first-prong (“sudden quarrel”) manslaughter from the crime of murder in the second degree. My concurrence in this judgment should not be read as an adherence to the view that an intentional killing committed “upon a sudden quarrel” can never constitute the crime of manslaughter. While the law currently is to the contrary, I do not adhere to the view that “[t]he distinction between second degree murder and manslaughter upon a sudden quarrel is the presence or absence of an intention to kill.” State v. Jones, 245 Neb. 821, 830, 515 N.W.2d 654, 659 (1994) (overruling, State v. Pettit, 233 Neb. 436, 445 N.W.2d 890 (1989)).