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Criminal Law Keyed to Kennedy
People v. Albert Joseph Berry
Citation:
18 Cal. 3d 509 (1976)Facts
The defendant, a 46 year old man, married Rachel Pessah, a 20 year old girl from Israel, in California. Rachel lived with Berry for only three days, and then left for Isreal. When she returned to California, she told him that she was in love with someone else named Yako.
On the evening of July 22nd, defendant and Rachel went to a movie where they engaged in heavy petting. When they returned home and got into bed, Rachel announced that she had intended to make love with defendant, “But I am saving myself for this man Yako, so I don’t think I will.” Defendant got out of bed and prepared to leave the apartment whereupon Rachel screamed and yelled at him. Defendant choked her into unconsciousness. She was treated at a hospital.
On July 25, the defendant went to the apartment in an attempt to talk with Rachel. However, she was not yet home. The defendant stayed the night and when Rachel did return home the next day, she said, “I supposed you have come here to kill me.” The defendant responded, “yes,” changed his response to “no,” and then again to “yes,” and finally stated “I have really come to talk to you.” Rachel started screaming and the defendant strangled her to death with a telephone cord.
At trial defendant did not deny strangling his wife, but claimed through his own testimony and the testimony of a psychiatrist that he was provoked into killing her because of a sudden and uncontrollable rage so as to reduce the offense to one of voluntary manslaughter. He testified that from July 13 to July 26, Rachel continually provoked defendant with sexual taunts and incitements, alternating acceptance and rejection of him, and repeated references to her involvement with another man. The doctor testified that as a result of this cumulative series of provocations, defendant, at the time he fatally strangled Rachel, was in a state of uncontrollable rage, completely under the sway of passion.
The trial court did not instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter. Instead, the jury convicted him of first degree murder.
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