California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Offley, 261 Cal.Rptr.3d 858, 48 Cal.App.5th 588 (Cal. App. 2020):
Both express and implied malice require proof of the defendants mental state. In the case of express malice, the defendant must have intended to kill. ( Beltran , supra , 56 Cal.4th at p. 941, 157 Cal.Rptr.3d 503, 301 P.3d 1120.) Implied malice also involves a mental component, namely a " conscious disregard for the danger to life that the [defendants] act poses. " ( Id. at pp. 941942, 157 Cal.Rptr.3d 503, 301 P.3d 1120.) This requires " examining the defendants subjective mental state to see if he or she actually appreciated the risk of his or her actions. [Citation.] It is not enough that a reasonable person would have been aware of the risk. " ( People v. Jimenez (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 1337, 1358, 197 Cal.Rptr.3d 1.)
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