## Facts

- Joseph Munoz and Donna married as teenagers, a few months after Donna ran away from home.
- Early in the marriage, Donna told Munoz she ran away because her stepfather, J.A. Hatfield, had attempted to molest her.
- Nearly a decade later, Donna, while hysterical, told Munoz that Hatfield, her uncle Ralph Hernandez, and her brother had repeatedly sexually abused her for years before she ran away.
- Donna also told Munoz she had asked family members for help, including her mother, Lila Hatfield, and they refused to help.
- Munoz became extremely upset, took a rifle, drove to the Hatfields’ home, and woke Lila and J.A. in their bedroom.
- Munoz confronted them about Donna’s allegations. J.A. denied the abuse; Lila admitted Donna had come to her for help and she refused.
- J.A. began to leave; Munoz told him to stop. J.A. moved toward Munoz. Munoz loaded the rifle; the men yelled at each other; the rifle discharged and killed J.A.
- As Munoz left, he ran over Lila with his pickup truck, severely injuring her.
- Munoz later shot Hernandez in both legs and left him in a secluded area; Hernandez survived.
- Munoz was convicted of second-degree murder (J.A.’s death) and two counts of aggravated battery (injuries to Lila and Hernandez).
- Munoz requested a voluntary manslaughter (heat-of-passion) instruction as a lesser-included offense of second-degree murder; the trial court refused, reasoning the provocation came from Donna rather than the victim.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence required a voluntary manslaughter (heat-of-passion/adequate provocation) instruction as a lesser-included offense of second-degree murder, even though the claimed provocation was Donna’s disclosure of past abuse rather than contemporaneous provocation by the victim.

## Decision

- The court reversed Munoz’s second-degree murder conviction and remanded for a new trial on that count because the jury should have been instructed on voluntary manslaughter.
- The court affirmed the two aggravated-battery convictions (relating to Lila Hatfield and Ralph Hernandez).

## Legal Principles

- Voluntary manslaughter is an intentional killing committed in the heat of passion caused by legally adequate provocation, before a reasonable cooling-off period.
- A defendant is entitled to a lesser-included-offense instruction when there is evidence from which a reasonable jury could find the elements of the lesser offense while acquitting on the greater offense; the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to giving the instruction.
- The trial judge decides only whether there is a factual basis for the instruction; whether the defendant was actually provoked, acted in the heat of passion, or had time to cool are matters for the jury.
- Adequate provocation may be shown by the surrounding circumstances, including highly emotional information communicated to the defendant and an ensuing confrontation, if a reasonable jury could find the disclosure and events would arouse an ordinary person to lose self-control.
- Erroneously refusing a supported lesser-included instruction is reversible error because it improperly limits the jury to an all-or-nothing choice between the greater offense and acquittal.

## Conclusion

Because the record contained evidence from which a jury could find that Munoz killed J.A. Hatfield in the heat of passion upon adequate provocation triggered by Donna’s hysterical disclosure of repeated sexual abuse and the immediate confrontation at the Hatfield home, the trial court’s refusal to instruct on voluntary manslaughter required reversal of the second-degree murder conviction and a new trial on that count, while the aggravated-battery convictions were affirmed.


State v. Munoz, 113 N.M. 489 (1992)