State v. Brooks
Washington Supreme Court
97 Wash.2d 873 (1982)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
Steven Brooks (defendant) was camping with friends and drinking large quantities of alcohol. He was clearly very intoxicated and remained intoxicated a day later when he killed the victim. Brooks was charged with murder. During the trial, the court allowed Brooks to argue that his involuntary intoxication had reduced his ability to premeditate the commission of the crime. The court refused, however, to give Brooks’s proposed instructions that the jury should take the fact of his intoxication into consideration in determining his mental state, or to allow Brooks’s psychologist to testify on the effect of his intoxication of the element of premeditation. Brooks was convicted of first-degree murder. Brooks appealed, alleging that the trial court erred in those restriction on the evidence of his intoxication. The state court of appeals upheld the conviction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stafford, 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.
