State v. Guebara
Supreme Court of Kansas
696 P.2d 381 (1985)
Paul Guebara (defendant) argued with his wife about misdemeanor charges she had filed against him, and after she told him the county attorney would not let her drop the charges, Guebara shot and killed her. At trial, Guebara testified he acted on a sudden, unreflective impulse, and his attorney requested a voluntary manslaughter instruction, which the court refused, instructing the jury only on first- and second-degree murder. The jury convicted Guebara of first-degree murder, and he appealed.
Whether a murder charge may be reduced to voluntary manslaughter where the defendant killed in the heat of passion, but there is no evidence this state of mind resulted from circumstances that objectively constituted adequate provocation.