State v. Sanchez

Justice Himonas, opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶1 For more than seven hours, James Sanchez viciously tortured his girlfriend, ultimately causing her death. Mr. Sanchez contends that he was under extreme emotional distress at the time because the victim allegedly told him that she was cheating on him with his brother and refused to promise she would stop. If proven, Mr. Sanchez's extreme emotional distress would be a special mitigating factor reducing the level of offense from criminal homicide to manslaughter. At trial, the court excluded statements Mr. Sanchez made to a detective that he…