State v. Farris
| Decision Date | 17 November 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 13010,13010 |
| Parties | STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hardy Ray FARRIS, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals, alleging a voluntary manslaughter instruction should have been given to the jury.
Defendant shot his wife on the morning of April 9, 1979 in the family home. Defendant had separated from his wife some time prior to the shooting. The testimony was that they had been married for about 20 years, and that during this time they had separated several times, always because of alleged 'boyfriends' of the wife. There was evidence that during the final separation period, his wife's boyfriend and the boyfriend's brother had threatened defendant twice, and he bought a gun to protect himself. Defendant suffered from a nervous condition during this period. On the morning of the shooting, he arranged to meet with his wife, and went over to talk with her. A quarrel ensued, and she poked him in the chest and told him to leave her boyfriend alone, that the boyfriend could come into the house any time he wanted. Defendant relates that he does not remember what ensued; he 'lost him head,' and shot her.
The elements of voluntary manslaughter are stated in N.M. U.J.I. Crim. 2.20, N.M.S.A. 1978. If a defendant was sufficiently provoked by conduct which aroused anger, rage, fear, sudden resentment terror or some other extreme emotion, and the provocation was such that an ordinary person of average disposition would have lost self control and not yet cooled, the defendant is guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. See State v. Manus, 93 N.M. 95, 597 P.2d 280 (1979).
in State v. Benavidez, 94 N.M. 419, 616 P.2d 419 (1980), we looked to several factors which might contribute to such provocation. They included prior bad acts of the victim directed at the defendant and members of defendant's family, prior threats of killing both defendant and a member of his family and a motion towards defendant at the time of the killing which could have been an attempt to strike defendant or move for a weapon. Of these circumstances, those most important are those within the res gestae of the killing. For there must be evidence of a sudden quarrel or heat of passion at the time of the commission of the crime. Smith v. State, 89 N.M. 770, 558 P.2d 39 (1976). We have also stated that ...
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State Of N.M. v. Flores
...victim where evidence of the battery would have been admissible in a separate murder trial on a res gestae theory); State v. Farris, 95 N.M. 96, 97, 619 P.2d 541, 542 (1980) (discussing whether the victim's provocative conduct was sufficiently within the “res gestae of the killing” to justi......
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State v. Flores, Docket No. 29,650 (N.M. 1/5/2010)
...victim where evidence of the battery would have been admissible in a separate murder trial on a res gestae theory); State v. Farris, 95 N.M. 96, 97, 619 P.2d 541, 542 (1980), overruled on other grounds by Sells v. State, 98 N.M. 786, 653 P.2d 162 (1982) (discussing whether the victim's prov......
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1998 -NMSC- 9, State v. Stills, 22733
...sufficient as a matter of law to require an instruction for voluntary manslaughter. We agree. ¶39 This case is like State v. Farris, 95 N.M. 96, 97, 619 P.2d 541, 542 (1980) overruled on other grounds, Sells v. State, 98 N.M. 786, 788, 653 P.2d 162, 164 (1982), where we found insufficient p......
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Sells v. State
...manslaughter. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court stating that it was bound by this Court's decision of State v. Farris, 95 N.M. 96, 619 P.2d 541 (1980), to the extent that words alone, no matter how scurrilous, cannot provide adequate provocation to support a voluntary manslaught......