## Facts

- Leslie Taylor Morrin was tried for killing William Abell by striking him in the head multiple times with a large pair of tongs; there were no eyewitnesses.
- Morrin testified that after heavy drinking he encountered Abell, who allegedly made sexual advances, produced a knife, and threatened him; Morrin claimed he struck Abell in self-defense during a struggle.
- Abell sustained eight head blows and died; after leaving, Morrin returned with his sister, confirmed Abell was dead, and his sister contacted police.
- The prosecution relied heavily on the number and severity of head wounds to argue that the homicide was first-degree murder.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the homicide was committed with willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation required for first-degree murder.
2. If the evidence was insufficient for first-degree murder but sufficient for second-degree murder, what appellate remedy was proper.

## Decision

- The court held the evidence was insufficient to support a reasonable inference of deliberation and premeditation and therefore could not sustain first-degree murder.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient to support second-degree murder because the jury could reject self-defense and still find an intentional, unjustified killing with malice aforethought.
- The court remanded for entry of judgment of second-degree murder and for resentencing, rather than ordering a new trial.

## Legal Principles

- In Michigan, first-degree murder requires malice aforethought plus proof of willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation; second-degree murder requires malice aforethought without those added elements.
- Premeditation and deliberation require actual reflection: time to take a “second look” and a decision made through measuring and evaluating the choice to kill, not merely intent formed in an unconsidered impulse.
- Deliberation is associated with a “cool state of blood,” meaning the mind is not overborne by emotion typical of sudden, heated confrontations.
- The brutality of a killing, including multiple blows, may support an inference of intent to kill but does not by itself establish deliberation and premeditation.
- When evidence is insufficient for a greater offense but sufficient for a lesser included offense, an appellate court may modify the conviction to the lesser offense and remand for entry of judgment and resentencing if the jury’s verdict necessarily includes the findings required for the lesser offense.

## Conclusion

The court reduced Morrin’s conviction from first-degree to second-degree murder because the record permitted a finding of intentional, malicious killing but did not permit a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing resulted from reflective deliberation and premeditation; it remanded for entry of the lesser judgment and resentencing.


People v. Morrin, 31 Mich. App. 301, 187 N.W.2d 434 (Mich. Ct. App. 1971)