Also known as: malice-in-law · malice in-law · legal malice · implied malice · constructive malice
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Malice inferred from a person's conduct rather than shown by direct proof of ill will. The inference arises when the conduct demonstrates reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, a deliberate intent to inflict great bodily injury, or an intent to commit a felony that results in death.
Grant ordered his crew to lash unstable chemical drums on deck despite a severe storm forecast. He refused to reroute. When the storm hit, the drums exploded and killed a deckhand. The reckless placement of the drums despite known danger supplies the conduct from which malice in law is inferred.
Joe directed workers to bypass a secure gate and pump toxic sludge into a storm channel to cut costs. A homeless man sleeping nearby died from the fumes. The intent to commit the felony of illegal dumping supplies the conduct from which malice in law is inferred under the felony-murder rule.
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Aidan locked Alfred in a conference room and struck him repeatedly in the head with a heavy stapler until he lost consciousness. Alfred later died from brain hemorrhage. The sustained targeting of the head with a blunt object supplies the conduct from which malice in law is inferred.
James researched knives and disabled office cameras the night before stabbing Sheri during an argument. The sustained targeting of vital areas with a deadly weapon supplies the conduct from which malice in law is inferred as a deliberate intent to inflict great bodily injury.
A publisher printed an article accusing a public figure of corruption. The figure sued for defamation and the publisher moved for summary judgment. The court must decide whether the record could support a reasonable jury finding that the publisher acted with reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life.
Jackie disabled an alarm, entered a data center to steal processors, and locked a guard in a server cage. An electrical fire started during the theft and the guard died from smoke. The intent to commit the felony supplies the conduct from which malice in law is inferred.
Malice in law is inferred from conduct such as reckless indifference to human life or intent to commit a felony. Express malice requires direct proof of a deliberate intent to kill.
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Yes. An intent to commit a felony during which a death occurs supplies implied malice by operation of law even without proof of intent to kill or injure.
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Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life constitutes malice in law when it demonstrates an abandoned and malignant heart.
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The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the homicide was unlawful and intentional before any inference of malice in law arises. The defendant does not bear the burden of disproving it.
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…either express or implied." Manslaughter was a killing "in the heat of passion, on sudden provocation, without express or implied malice aforethought." Id. , at 686, and n. 3. Although "express malice" at one point may have had its own significant independent meaning, see Perkins, A Re-Examination of Malice Aforethought, 43…