Charged with Voluntary Manslaughter in Orange County?
California PC 192(a) Prosecution
Are You or a Loved one being accused of Homicide or Voluntary Manslaughter in Orange County?
It is very important that you speak to an experienced Wallin & Klarich criminal attorney in California as soon as you can. If you are facing a murder charge, for example, your attorney may be able to have that charge reduced to voluntary manslaughter. This will be the case if your attorney can prove that you killed someone in the heat of passion, or during a sudden quarrel that turned violent.
How to Determine if You are Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter in Orange County?
You may be able to meet the requirement for a voluntary manslaughter charge in California if you can prove the following:
- You were provoked.
- You were driven to act emotionally, or in the heat of passion, as a result of being provoked.
- Any reasonable person would have acted in the same irrational way if provoked in the same fashion.
How a Murder Charge May be Reduced to Voluntary Manslaughter in Orange County
If you face a voluntary manslaughter charge and call an attorney immediately, he or she will protect your rights by building a strong defense that may lead to your charge being reduced. Your attorney will act fast before evidence begins to fade or witnesses’ memories become cloudy.
The court will take several factors into consideration when deciding whether or not a murder charge can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter. Some of these will be to your benefit, but others will not.
- If you were only slightly provoked, that will not be enough to reduce a murder charge to a voluntary manslaughter charge.
- If you had time to “cool off” or regain your composure between the time you were provoked and the time of the killing, then you cannot claim you killed in the heat of passion. As a result, you will not meet the requirement for a voluntary manslaughter charge.
- You had to act while under the direct and immediate influence of the provocation you experienced. You cannot qualify for a voluntary manslaughter charge if you acted for any other reason than the provocation.
- An act of voluntary manslaughter can be the result of a provocation that builds over time or one that happens instantly. If, for instance, you kill your spouse after an argument resulting from a bad marriage that became progressively worse, then you may be able to satisfy the “heat of passion” element mentioned earlier.
- Any violent emotion that results in you acting irrationally may fit the “heat of passion” element. That element does not depend on any particular emotion such as anger or rage.
How Can an Orange County criminal attorney at Wallin & Klarich Help
The attorneys at Wallin & Klarich have helped clients facing voluntary manslaughter charges in California for more than 40 years. Call us today at (877) 4-NO-JAIL to receive our immediate help – we have offices in Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, Victorville and West Covina, and we are standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We will get through this together.
