Also known as: heat of passion · provocation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A state of intense emotional arousal arising from adequate provocation that negates the malice aforethought required for murder. The state must arise suddenly, overwhelm self-control in an ordinary person, and persist without a reasonable cooling-off period before the killing occurs.
Sylvia Santos returns home early from work and finds her spouse in bed with another person. Overcome by sudden rage, Santos immediately grabs a nearby object and strikes the lover, causing death. The killing occurred before any cooling period could intervene, satisfying the requirements for mitigation to voluntary manslaughter.
Selena Singh insults Sofia Stern repeatedly in a workplace meeting. Stern shoves Singh, causing injury. In the ensuing battery suit, the jury awards compensatory damages in full but reduces punitive damages after weighing the verbal provocation under the applicable rule.
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Spencer Silver argues with Sabrina Shah over a minor work dispute. Shah calls Silver several insulting names. Silver retrieves a weapon and kills Shah hours later. The words alone do not constitute adequate provocation, so the killing remains murder.
Simone Sanders suffers a severe beating from an assailant during an argument. Sanders immediately draws a knife and stabs the assailant, causing death. The serious battery supplies adequate provocation, reducing the offense to voluntary manslaughter.
Sabrina Shah learns of a serious battery on her sibling. She waits two hours, then tracks down and kills the attacker. The passage of time allows a reasonable person’s passion to cool, preventing reduction to voluntary manslaughter.
Spencer Silver discovers his spouse in an adulterous act. Still in the grip of passion, Silver kills the paramour minutes later without any intervening calm. The absence of actual cooling satisfies the final requirement for voluntary manslaughter.
The provocation must be adequate to arouse sudden intense passion in an ordinary person. The defendant must actually have been provoked. A reasonable person would not have had time to cool off. The defendant in fact did not cool off before the killing.
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No. At common law, mere words, trivial battery, and provocation based on wrongs that occurred long in the past are legally inadequate and do not reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter.
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There must not have been sufficient time between the provocation and the killing for a reasonable person’s passion to cool. The defendant must also in fact not have cooled off.
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Courts most frequently recognize adequate provocation when the defendant suffers a serious battery, faces a threat of deadly force, or discovers a spouse engaged in sexual relations with another person.
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Yes. Compensatory damages are not diminished by the fact that the injured person provoked the tortfeasor, but the provocation is considered in determining the allowance and amount of punitive damages.
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…might invoke today: that Cobham's statements were self-inculpatory, 2 How. St. Tr., at 19, that they were not made in the heat of passion, id. , at 14, and that they were not "extracted from [him] upon any hopes or promise of Pardon," id. , at 29. It is not plausible that the Framers' only objection to the trial was that…