State v. Sety
Court of Appeals of Arizona
590 P.2d 470 (1979)
Donald Cue confronted David Sety (defendant) at an isolated campground, loaded a rifle, and pointed it at him; Sety drew his own pistol, ordered Cue to freeze, fired warning shots when Cue did not comply, and shot Cue in the side, then attempted a citizen's arrest and ordered him toward a dam keeper's house. When Cue tried to escape en route, Sety shot him again, striking but not killing him, and testified that during a later escape attempt Cue reached for him and Sety's pistol discharged as he tried to pull away, this final shot killing Cue. A jury convicted Sety of second-degree murder, but the trial court reduced the conviction to voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to nine to ten years; both Sety and the prosecution appealed.
Whether a trial court may reduce a defendant's murder conviction to a voluntary-manslaughter conviction even if the defendant used a deadly weapon to kill the victim.