## Facts

- Leslie Cook was last seen alive on February 15, 1982, in Sequim, Washington, after getting off a bus with Charles Dean Bingham; there was no evidence they knew each other beforehand.
- Cook and Bingham visited a grocery store and two residences; at the last residence, Bingham requested a ride, was refused, and left with Cook toward the Old Olympic Highway, an infrequently traveled road.
- Witnesses did not report an argument or physical altercation between Cook and Bingham.
- On February 18, 1982, Cook’s body was found in a pasture about a quarter mile from the last residence they had visited.
- Autopsy findings showed Cook was raped and manually strangled; death required continuous pressure to the windpipe for approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
- Cook had injuries consistent with antemortem sexual assault; bite marks were found, and one bite mark was identified as consistent with Bingham’s teeth.
- The State charged Bingham with aggravated first-degree (premeditated) murder, with rape alleged as the aggravating circumstance.
- At trial, the State argued premeditation could be inferred because Bingham allegedly had time to think while strangling Cook for 3 to 5 minutes; the jury convicted Bingham of aggravated first-degree murder.

## Issues

1. Whether the time required to cause death by manual strangulation, without additional evidence, is sufficient to prove premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt for aggravated first-degree murder.

## Decision

- The Washington Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals.
- The court held the evidence was insufficient to establish premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt.
- The court ruled that the 3–5 minutes required to accomplish manual strangulation, standing alone, did not permit a rational inference that the defendant actually reflected on and deliberately formed an intent to kill.
- The aggravated first-degree murder conviction was set aside, and the case was remanded for resentencing on second-degree murder.

## Legal Principles

- Premeditation requires the deliberate formation of and reflection upon the intent to take a human life; it is distinct from intent to kill.
- Proof that a method of killing took enough time to allow reflection is not proof that reflection occurred.
- Premeditation cannot be inferred solely from the manner and duration of the killing; additional evidence is required (e.g., planning activity, prior relationship or hostility, motive supported by evidence, or statements indicating an advance decision to kill).
- Interpreting premeditation to follow automatically from any non-instantaneous killing would collapse the statutory distinction between intentional second-degree murder and premeditated first-degree murder.
- Prior authority suggesting that the time to effect death alone can establish premeditation is limited to the extent it implies premeditation may be found without evidence beyond time and method.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that a manual strangulation lasting several minutes may provide an opportunity to deliberate, but without other supporting evidence it does not prove the deliberation required for premeditated first-degree murder; the conviction therefore had to be reduced to second-degree murder for resentencing.


State v. Bingham, 105 Wn.2d 820, 719 P.2d 109 (Wash. 1986)