State of Arizona v. Ricky Alonzo Hippensteel

Summary

The court held that the trial court fundamentally and prejudicially erred by giving conflicting instructions on provocation manslaughter and by using a verdict form that treated that offense as a lesser included offense. Because a properly instructed jury could plausibly and intelligently have found Hippensteel guilty of provocation manslaughter, the court reversed his second-degree-murder conviction and remanded for a new trial on that count while affirming the other convictions and sentences.