State v. Ollens

Ollens (defendant) stabbed taxicab driver William Tyler from behind multiple times and slit his throat, leaving Tyler alive for two to three minutes afterward, with defensive wounds showing the two men struggled. The trial court, relying on a precedent (Bingham) holding that multiple knife wounds alone are not evidence of premeditation but only of intent to kill, dismissed the aggravated first-degree murder charge for insufficient premeditation evidence. The State appealed.