Constitutional Analysis of AB 1160: Validity of Due Process Challenges to Legislation Elimination Gay and Trans Panic Defenses in California

Publication Date: February 2005

Publisher:

Author(s): Brad Sears; Elizabeth Kukura

Research Area: Law and ethics

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

Would a statute that defined sufficient provocation for "sudden quarrel" or "heat of passion" to exclude gay and trans panic defenses violate defendants' due process rights? No. In determining whether such a statute violated a defendants' due process rights, a court would follow the U.S. Supreme Court's reasoning in Montana v. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37 (1996), which upheld a Montana statute prohibiting consideration of a defendant's voluntary intoxication in determining the mens rea element of any criminal offense.