State v. Guthrie

Facts

On February 12, 1993, Steven Farley, Tracy Farley, James Gibson, and the defendant were all working in the kitchen of a restaurant. Steven Farley was poking fun at the defendant, who appeared to be in a bad mood. He told him to light up and snapped him with a dishtowel. The dishtowel hit the defendant’s nose. The defendant pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Steven in the neck and the arm. Steven cried, “Man, I was just kidding around” and the defendant responded, “well, man you should have never hit me in my face.” Steven later died. Police came and arrested the defendant.

The defendant suffers from a host of psychiatric problems, chronic depression, and an obsession with his nose. The defendant’s father testified that the defendant spent 50% of his time looking at his nose, and constantly asking for assurance that it was not too big. The defendant testified that he had a panic attack immediately preceding the stabbing, and stated that Steven kept irritating him and he did not understand why. Even at trial, the defendant did not comprehend his overaction to the situation. He testified that being struck in the nose caused him to lose it, and when he came to himself, he was holding the knife in his hand.

The Court instructed the jury that “to constitute a willful, deliberate and premeditated killing, it is not necessary that the intention to kill should exist for any particular length of time prior to the actual killing; it is only necessary that such intention should have come into existence for the first time at the time of such killing, or at any time previously.” The defendant was found guilty of first degree murder.