California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Gaines, H043645 (Cal. App. 2018):
A similar situation was presented in People v. Dominguez (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 516 (Dominguez). The defendant was charged with two counts of attempted murder, and the jury was instructed that it had to determine whether allegations of willfulness, deliberateness, and premeditation were true. (Id. at p. 521.) The jury was also instructed on the definition of those terms and the prosecution's burden of proof. However, the verdict forms did not include a special finding on whether the attempted murders were willful, deliberate, and premeditated; rather, it "included a part that allowed the jury to fix the degree of the attempted murder as first or second degree." (Id. at p. 522.) The jury returned a verdict of first degree attempted murder as to one count and second degree attempted murder as to the other count.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.