The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Seth Cravens, Defendant and Appellant — Kennard, J., Dissenting

Summary

In dissent, Justice Kennard would have upheld the Court of Appeal's conclusion that the evidence was insufficient to establish implied malice for second degree murder because neither the objective nor subjective component was proven. She reasoned that a single unexpected punch, without evidence that death was a highly probable natural consequence or that the defendant knew it endangered life, supported voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Justice Liu, concurring, agreed with the result reached by the majority but urged explicit consideration of the competing formulations of the implied-malice standard.