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State v. Ramirez | 945 P.2d 376 (1997)

First-degree murder falls on the most severe end of the homicide spectrum because it requires premeditation and deliberation or other aggravating elements. The Arizona Court of Appeals considered exactly what premeditation means in this context in the nineteen ninety-seven case State versus Ramirez.

David Ramirez was at his girlfriend’s townhouse when another young man, also named David, knocked on the door. After letting David inside, Ramirez jammed a gun into his ribs and threatened him. That was the extent of the confrontation. But a month later, Ramirez stepped outside the townhouse and saw David’s brother, who looked a lot like David, walking toward him. Ramirez approached the brother and shook his hand in greeting. Then, for what seemed like no reason at all, Ramirez pulled out a gun and shot the brother to death with three bullets, pausing before the final shot. There were multiple eyewitnesses.

Ramirez stood trial for killing the brother, and the only contested issue was whether the killing was premeditated like the state argued or impulsive like Ramirez argued. An Arizona statute provided that premeditation exists if the defendant’s intent to kill another human being or knowledge that the defendant would kill preceded the killing by any period of time to permit reflection. The trial court ultimately instructed the jury that premeditation means that the obligatory knowledge existed before the killing for a long enough period of time to permit reflection. The trial court further instructed the jury that although the time for reflection must exceed the time needed to form the obligatory knowledge, reflection can happen as quickly as consecutive thoughts in the mind. Lastly, the trial court instructed the jury that the time for reflection is what separates first-degree murder from second-degree murder.

The jury found that the killing was premeditated and convicted Ramirez of first-degree murder. Ramirez appealed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, arguing that the jury instruction on premeditation improperly lowered the state’s burden of proof.

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