What is the test for determining whether a murder was deliberate or premeditated?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Montgomery, E071181 (Cal. App. 2020):
In any event, the prosecutor's hypotheticals in this case were proper. "'The process of premeditation and deliberation does not require any extended period of time. "The true test is not the duration of time as much as it is the extent of the reflection. Thoughts may follow each other with great rapidity and cold, calculated judgment may be arrived at quickly. . . ." [Citations.]'" (People v. Koontz (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1041, 1080.) The prosecutor accurately stated these principles by explaining to the jury that "[t]he amount of time" was not "what determine[s] whether the killing was deliberate or premeditated. It's the extent of reflection."
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