California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Avalos, G049460 (Cal. App. 2015):
involuntary manslaughter," a person "who, with the intent to kill or with conscious disregard for life, unlawfully kills in unreasonable self-defense is guilty of voluntary manslaughter." (People v. Blakeley (2000) 23 Cal.4th 82, 91, first original italics deleted, second italics added.) Therefore, a defendant can be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter without a showing of an intent to killit could very well be defendant acted with a conscious disregard for life. Because an intent to kill need not be shown to support a voluntary manslaughter conviction, defendant is incorrect in asserting that an absence of an intent to kill warrants an involuntary manslaughter instruction.
2.3 Defendant's Assaultive Felony Resulting in a Killing did not Require an Involuntary Manslaughter Instruction
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