People v. Padilla

ROVIRA, Justice.

Mariano Padilla (defendant) was charged with and found guilty of second-degree murder. 1 He challenges his conviction, claiming that the statute is unconstitutional because the culpable mental state required for a conviction of second-degree murder is not sufficiently distinguishable from that required under the manslaughter statute. 2 He also contends that the trial judge erred when, after defining the offense of second-degree murder, he instructed the jury on lesser included offenses in the words of Colorado Criminal Jury Instruction 36:6 even though no objection was made at…