People v. Berry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
People v. Berry[1] is a voluntary manslaughter case that is widely taught in American law schools for the appellate court's unusual interpretation of heat of passion doctrine. Although the defendant had time to "cool down" between his wife's verbal admission of infidelity and the killing, the California Supreme Court held that the provocation in this case was adequate to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter. The lower court had relied on the traditional definition of "adequate provocation" in its jury instructions. The California Supreme Court reversed Berry's murder conviction, while affirming Berry's conviction for assault using deadly force.
People v. Berry | |
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Decided December 8, 1976 | |
Full case name | The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Albert Joseph Berry, Defendant and Appellant. |
Citation(s) | 18 Cal.3d 509; 556 P.2d 777; 134 Cal. Rptr. 415 |
Holding | |
The defendant received adequate provocation to have committed a crime of passion. | |
Court membership | |
Chief Justice | Donald Wright |
Associate Justices | Marshall F. McComb, Mathew Tobriner, Stanley Mosk, Raymond L. Sullivan, William P. Clark Jr., Frank K. Richardson |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Sullivan, joined by Wright, McComb, Tobriner, Mosk, Clark, Richardson |
The case has also been discussed or mentioned in more than forty separate academic journal articles relating to murder, female victims of domestic violence, and rape.[2] More than 160 court decisions in California have cited, mentioned, or discussed this opinion.[3]