With news reports of Caylee Anthony's remains being positively identified and her mother charged with first degree murder, it's a good time to review what a charge of 1st degree murder entails.
In order to be convicted of 1st degree murder, the accused must have acted in a premeditated fashion ie. he/she intended to kill the victim.
Other than providing an alibi whereby the accused could not have committed the crime (first degree murder), another defense recognized under Florida law is the "heat of passion" defense. Heat of passion describes a mental state brought upon by fear, rage, anger, or terror that, combined with adequate provocation, is a defense against conviction of first or second degree murder. Adequate provocation is defined as that which might cause a reasonable person in the heat of the moment to lose self control or adequate reflection to act impulsively. The case most often cited in these types of defenses is Villella v. State of Florida where a husband charged with killing his wife argued that his crime was one of passion after he learned of his wife's affair.
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