Ok, well, I'm not going to follow those links because you didn't actually link them. So, oh well.

Let's look at "malice aforethought" logically, starting with a clear example of non-premeditated murder.

"John" is sitting in his car at a red light in Charleston. "Steve" is behind him in a different car. Steve's foot slips off the brake pedal and his car bumps John's car. John freaks out, grabs the gun that he legally carries for self defense, and shoots Steve in the head, killing Steve.

I think you would agree that this example is clearly not manslaughter. And I think you would agree that this was not premeditated. If malice aforethought requires premeditation, then you can't charge John with murder in this case.

Or anyone, ever, in any state that still maintains the common law definition of murder if the murder they committed wasn't premeditated.

Ok. The example I gave isn't manslaughter.

You're insane.

You lack a fundamental understanding of the criminal justice system.

Non-premeditated murders happen all the time. It's called second degree murder. States without a distinction between first/second degree, lump them together under murder.

Similar but still still different. Lots of 2nd degree murder cases get pleaded down to manslaughter for a myriad of reasons. Plenty of 1st degree murder charges get pleaded down to 2nd degree for a myriad of reasons.

Manslaughter requires provocation that would drive a reasonable person to go blind with rage and kill. Example:

     

Murder and Manslaughter: Case Example 1

Facts: Fast Boyle is walking along a busy street. Clay bumps into Boyle and continues walking without saying, "Sorry." Angered by Clay's rudeness, Boyle immediately pulls out a gun and kills Clay.

Verdict: Boyle could probably be convicted of second degree murder, because he killed Clay intentionally. A judge or jury is unlikely to conclude that the killing was premeditated, which would elevate the shooting to first degree murder. On the other hand, this wasn’t the kind of heat-of-passion killing that equals voluntary manslaughter. While Boyle might have been provoked in some sense, the circumstances weren’t so extreme to cause a reasonable person to lose control.

Like this example, the John/Steve shooting was a killing without premeditation but with malice aforethought. The Scott shooting was also a non-premeditated killing with malice aforethought.

Posted by moy23 on 4/15/2015 9:57:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 4/15/2015 7:54:00 PM (view original):
Similar but still still different. Lots of 2nd degree murder cases get pleaded down to manslaughter for a myriad of reasons. Plenty of 1st degree murder charges get pleaded down to 2nd degree for a myriad of reasons.

Manslaughter requires provocation that would drive a reasonable person to go blind with rage and kill. Example:

     

Murder and Manslaughter: Case Example 1

Facts: Fast Boyle is walking along a busy street. Clay bumps into Boyle and continues walking without saying, "Sorry." Angered by Clay's rudeness, Boyle immediately pulls out a gun and kills Clay.

Verdict: Boyle could probably be convicted of second degree murder, because he killed Clay intentionally. A judge or jury is unlikely to conclude that the killing was premeditated, which would elevate the shooting to first degree murder. On the other hand, this wasn’t the kind of heat-of-passion killing that equals voluntary manslaughter. While Boyle might have been provoked in some sense, the circumstances weren’t so extreme to cause a reasonable person to lose control.

Like this example, the John/Steve shooting was a killing without premeditation but with malice aforethought. The Scott shooting was also a non-premeditated killing with malice aforethought.

Lol. Right from your example....

" A judge or jury is unlikely to conclude that the killing was premeditated, which would elevate the shooting to first degree murder."

Um yeah. It's unlikely to be elevated to first degree murder.