State v. Trujillo

I concur in the decision part of the opinion ordering a reversal and new trial, but I think my reasons are so different from those of the Chief Justice that I prefer to state them independently of the prevailing opinion.

There were no degrees of murder at common law. Most, if not all, of the states, including Utah, now have by statute separated the crime of murder into degrees. Section 103-28-8, U. C. A. 1943, and predecessor statutes, have divided first degree murder into four categories. These four categories were discussed at some length in State v. Russell, 106 Utah 116, 145 P. 2d 1003.…