State v. Thompson

¶ 36 The court of appeals in State v. Ramirez, 190 Ariz. 65, 69, 945 P.2d 376, 380 (App.1997), held that the 1978 statutory definition of premeditation, along with the instruction that premeditation may be as instantaneous as successive thoughts of the mind, “obliterates any meaningful difference between first and second degree murder— other than the penalties.” The Ramirez court concluded that juries should be instructed that “premeditation requires actual reflection.” Id. at 70, 945 P.2d at 381. In obvious disagreement with the Ramirez decision, the legislature responded in 1998 by amending…