Penal Code § 192 PC – Voluntary Manslaughter – California Law

Under California Penal Code § 192 PC, voluntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being that occurs

1. during a sudden quarrel,
2. in the heat of passion, or
3. based on an honest but unreasonable belief in the need to defend yourself.

Voluntary manslaughter is a felony carrying 3, 6, or 11 years in California State Prison or probation with up to 1 year in county jail.

Voluntary manslaughter is a less serious homicide offense than murder but a more serious one than involuntary manslaughter:

CALIFORNIA LAW	Murder	Voluntary Manslaughter	Involuntary Manslaughter
Malice aforethought	Yes	No	No
Intent to kill	Yes	Yes	No
Premeditation	Yes (1st degree) / No (2nd degree)	No	No
Provocation or heat of passion	No	Yes	No
Criminal negligence	No	No	Yes
Sentencing	15 years to life (2nd degree) / 25 years to life (1st degree)	3, 6, or 11 years	2, 3, or 4 years
Possible defenses	Self-defense, defense of others, insanity, accident	Self-defense, defense of others, insanity, accident	Self-defense, defense of others, insanity, accident

Prosecutors usually charge you with murder rather than manslaughter, but we have a long track record of convincing prosecutors to reduce murder down to manslaughter. We also have seen murder trials where the jury rejects the murder allegation and instead delivers a manslaughter conviction or an outright acquittal.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. How does California law define voluntary manslaughter?
• 2. What are some examples of voluntary manslaughter cases?
• 3. What are the best defenses to Penal Code 192 PC?
• 4. What is the sentence for voluntary manslaughter in California?
• 5. Are there related crimes?
• Additional reading

1. How does California law define voluntary manslaughter?

California’s voluntary manslaughter law says that you are guilty of the crime if you take a human life either:

• upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion, or
• upon unreasonable self-defense, or, the unreasonable but good faith belief in having to act in self-defense (also known as imperfect self-defense).¹

A prosecutor must prove the following to successfully convict you of voluntary manslaughter charges by means of a quarrel or in the heat of passion:

1. you were provoked,
2. as a result of being provoked, you acted rashly and under the influence of intense emotion that obscured your reasoning or judgment,² and
3. the provocation would have caused an average person to act rashly and without due deliberation – that is, from passion rather than from judgment.³

Legal definitions

For purposes of this statute, “heat of passion” means any violent or intense emotion that causes a person to act impulsively. If, between the time you are provoked and the time you kill, you have enough time to “cool off” and regain your ability to think rationally, then you would more likely be guilty of premeditated murder than manslaughter.⁴

Note that, under PC 192, “manslaughter” is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.⁵

“Malice aforethought” exists when you act with either:

• premeditation or an intent to kill (known as express malice), or
• a wanton disregard for human life (known as implied malice).⁶

2. What are some examples of voluntary manslaughter cases?

1. Using lethal force against an unarmed pickpocketer.
2. The murder suspect of a beloved relative smirks at you in court, and in a heat of passion you run over and strangle them.⁷
3. Walking in on your spouse cheating and in a sudden rage stabbing them.⁸
4. A parent killing someone they unreasonably believe is a threat to their child.
5. Unnecessarily using lethal force in self-defense during a physical altercation.
6. Assisting suicide, even if the person consented to your assistance.
7. Responding to “fighting words” with lethal force.

Some of the most common voluntary manslaughter cases we see in our experience involve heat of passion killings in response to learning of a massive betrayal, such as infidelity or a financial scam.

3. What are the best defenses to Penal Code 192 PC?

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented countless people facing homicide allegations. In our experience, the following three defenses are very effective at persuading prosecutors to reduce or dismiss voluntary manslaughter charges.

1. You acted out of self-defense;
2. You were insane at the time of the killing; or
3. You killed someone on accident.

Self-defense/defense of others

California’s self-defense laws allow you to kill another person when you kill to protect yourself or another person from:

• being killed,
• suffering great bodily injury, or
• being raped, maimed, robbed, or the victim of some other forcible and atrocious crime.

These laws allow you to take whatever steps a reasonable person would take (including deadly force) to protect against the above harms.⁹

When we claim self-defense for our clients, we compile all the available evidence including video surveillance footage, eyewitness accounts, and medical records of your injuries (if any) to show that you had been attacked.

The insanity defense

Under an insanity defense, a criminal defense attorney attempts to show that you were legally insane at the time of the killing.

“Insanity” means that you:

• did not understand the nature of your criminal act, or
• did not understand that what you were doing was morally wrong.¹⁰

This definition of legal insanity is known as the “McNaghten rule.

We reserve the insanity defense for cases where we can get the best expert witnesses in the industry to testify under oath that you met the legal definition of insanity at the time of the killing. Judges and juries are very receptive to credentialed and persuasive medical experts with long track records of assessing people’s mental states.

Accidental killing

You are not guilty of voluntary manslaughter if you killed someone by accident.

The defense works provided that you:

• had no criminal intent to do harm,
• were not acting negligently at the time of the accident, and
• were otherwise engaged in lawful behavior at the time of the accidental killing.¹¹

The most persuasive evidence we use to show that the killing was accidental comes from surveillance video, eye-witness reports, and medical records to show that any injuries were not purposely inflicted.

4. What is the sentence for voluntary manslaughter in California?

Voluntary manslaughter is a felony offense in California. For a manslaughter sentence, the court can choose to

1. grant probation with up to one year in county jail, or
2. deny probation and impose a three, six, or eleven-year term in state prison. ¹²

A conviction can also result in:

• a potential strike on your record under California’s three-strikes law,
• a maximum $10,000 fine,
• the loss of the right to own or possess a firearm under Penal Code 29800 PC, California’s “felon with a firearm” law,
• community service, and/or
• counseling services (such as anger management classes).

In order to convince the judge to grant the laxest sentence possible, we present to the court all the available mitigating circumstances, such as:

• you have no other criminal record;
• any reasonable person in your position would have acted the same way; and
• you have been a model and cooperative defendant.

We have also had cases where we convinced the D.A. to reduce the original murder charge down to manslaughter, which carries much lesser penalties than murder.

5. Are there related crimes?

Murder – PC 187

Per Penal Code 187, murder is killing someone or a fetus with malice aforethought.

Note again that voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a person in an unlawful manner but without malice.

Attempted murder – PC 664/187a

Per Penal Code 664/187a PC, attempted murder is planning to kill someone and taking a direct step towards the killing, but the intended victim does not die.

As with a charge under PC 192, you can challenge it using the defense of self-defense.

Involuntary manslaughter – PC 192b

Under Penal Code 192b PC, involuntary manslaughter is killing a person without intent, but while committing either:

• a crime that was not an inherently dangerous felony, or
• a lawful act that might produce death.

California treats a conviction under this statute less harshly as compared to one under PC 192a. Involuntary manslaughter is a felony that carries by up to four years in jail.

Vehicular manslaughter – PC 192c

Under Penal Code 192c PC, vehicular manslaughter is driving in a negligent or illegal manner and thereby causing the death of another person.

Unlike with voluntary manslaughter, a prosecutor can file a charge under this statute as a misdemeanor.

Watson murder – PC 187

Per Penal Code 187 PC, Watson DUI murder is having a prior California DUI conviction and killing someone while driving under the influence.

As with a conviction of voluntary manslaughter, a Watson murder conviction can result in a potential strike on your record under California’s three-strikes law.

Additional reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• (Wo)Manslaughter: Voluntary Manslaughter, Gender, and the Model Penal Code – Emory Law Journal.
• Are There Circumstances Other than Provocation which May Reduce Murder to Voluntary Manslaughter – Kentucky Law Journal.
• What Future for Voluntary Manslaughter? – The Journal of Criminal Law.
• Manslaughter and the Adequacy of Provocation: The Reasonableness of the Reasonable Man – University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
• The psychology and law of voluntary manslaughter: what can psychology research teach us about the “heat of passion” defense? – Behavior Decision Making.
• Some Provoking Aspects of Voluntary Manslaughter Law – Common Law World Review.

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