People v. Whitfield

Opinion

GEORGE, J.

We granted review in this case to resolve a conflict in decisions of the Courts of Appeal regarding whether, under Penal Code section 22,1 evidence of voluntary intoxication is admissible in a prosecution for second degree murder when the prosecution seeks to establish the existence of malice aforethought on an implied malice theory, i.e., seeks to prove that the defendant acted with knowledge of the danger to human life and in conscious disregard of human life. For the reasons that follow, we hold that evidence of voluntary intoxication is admissible under section 22 with…