Sells v. State
New Mexico Supreme Court
98 N.M. 786 (1982)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
John Sells (defendant) and Barbara Sells were married. Over the course of one night, John and Barbara were drinking heavily and engaged in a series of heated arguments. Barbara told John that she was engaging in an extramarital affair with a man that John knew. Barbara revealed that a recent trip she had taken had been to be with the man, and expressly told John that she enjoyed having sexual relations with her lover. Witnesses stated that throughout the night John appeared dazed and shocked, and obviously had no knowledge of his wife’s adultery before the arguments occurred. In the early morning, John and Barbara physically struggled with each other, and shortly after that, John fatally shot Barbara. John claimed to have not known the gun was loaded, and also claimed to not remember shooting his wife. John was charged with first-degree murder. The trial court instructed the jury on first- and second-degree murder and on involuntary manslaughter, but did not instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter, despite John’s request to do so. John was convicted of second-degree murder. John appealed, alleging that it was an error for the court to fail to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter. The court of appeals upheld the conviction, and John petitioned for certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Federici, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
