People v. Brown

Summary

The court held that first degree murder by poison requires proof that the defendant deliberately gave the victim poison intending to kill or inflict injury likely to cause death, in addition to the malice required for murder. Because the jury instructions allowed conviction based only on malice and the use of poison, and the instructional omission was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the court reversed the first degree murder conviction and remanded for further proceedings. The defendant's other convictions were left intact.