Suprenant v. State
Indiana Court of Appeals
925 N.E.2d 1280 (2010)
- Written by Caroline Milne, JD
Facts
Jack Suprenant (defendant) suspected that partner Kerry Bruckman was having an affair. The couple argued for several days until Bruckman decided to leave with Suprenant’s children. Bruckman told Suprenant the relationship was over and began to pack some belongings. Suprenant pleaded with Bruckman to stay. When Bruckman refused, Suprenant became enraged and began stabbing Bruckman. Bruckman’s screaming awakened the children, who ran into the couple’s bedroom. Suprenant chased the children back to bed, returned to the couple’s bedroom, and continued to stab Bruckman until Bruckman died. At Suprenant’s murder trial, the court refused to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter. The court found Bruckman’s statement that the relationship was over insufficient to support a finding that Suprenant committed the murder in a sudden heat under the voluntary-manslaughter statute. A jury convicted Suprenant of murder. Suprenant appealed, arguing that Bruckman’s words—combined with Bruckman’s gathering of her belongings—constituted sufficient provocation to warrant a jury instruction on manslaughter.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bailey, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 778,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
