State v. Guthrie 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995) Guthrie had some psychiatric problems including panic attacks. He was at work one day when some of the other co-workers were making fun of him. Guthrie pulled out a knife and stabbed one of them in the neck. The other co-workers testified that they weren't teasing Guthrie too badly, and that there was no warning, Guthrie just snapped. Even Guthrie testified that he could not believe how he had overreacted. Guthrie was arrested and charged with murder. The Trial Court found Guthrie guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison. He appealed. Under West Virginia law, first-degree murder is a "willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder." The jury was instructed that "what is meant by the language of willful, deliberate, and premeditated is that the killing be intentional," and "in order to constitute a premeditated murder and intent to kill need exist only for an instant." Guthrie argued that the killing was not premeditated, and therefore he should only be guilty of second-degree murder, which carries a lesser penalty. The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned the conviction and remanded for a new trial. The West Virginia Supreme Court found that the jury instructions were incorrect because they nullified the distinction between first-degree murder and second-degree murder. The Court suggested that to sustain a first-degree murder charge, there must be some evidence that the defendant considered and weighed his decision to kill. On the other hand, second-degree murder is for killings of a spontaneous and nonreflective nature. Basically, in order to sustain a first-degree murder charge, there must have been an opportunity for some reflection on the intention to kill after it is formed. That opportunity can be a very short time period though, just long enough to 'permit reflection." Compare to Commonwealth v. Carroll (A.2d 911 (1963)), which said that as long as you act with a deliberate intent to kill someone, that can count as premeditation, even you don't plan the murder and think about it for a while.