Byford v. Nevada

After discussing killing an acquaintance, Monica Wilkins, who had angered them by leaving a party with other men, Byford, Williams, and Smith (defendants) picked her up, drove to the desert, and Byford handed Williams a gun, saying he couldn't do it himself; Williams shot Wilkins multiple times, and after she got up screaming, Byford took the gun, declared he'd make sure she was dead, shot her twice in the head, then poured gasoline on her body and lit it after Smith refused. Smith pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and testified against Byford and Williams, who were convicted of first-degree murder based on a jury instruction that treated premeditation alone, if found, as establishing that the killing was willful, deliberate, and premeditated; Byford was sentenced to death and appealed.