A man comes home and finds his spouse involved in an intimate act with another person. In a sudden rage, he grabs a heavy object and strikes the other person, killing them. What is the man's likely criminal liability in this situation?
Second-degree murder: The killing occurred without planning.
Justifiable homicide: There was an assertion of a defensive claim regarding his marital relationship.
First-degree murder: The killing was done with intent.
Manslaughter: The man acted in emotional distress as a result of provocation.
The correct answer is manslaughter because provocation, such as discovering one’s spouse engaging in infidelity, is widely recognized as sufficient to mitigate an intentional killing to voluntary manslaughter if a reasonable person would have acted similarly under the heat of passion. The immediacy of the act indicates that the man acted impulsively and without time for premeditation or cool reflection, which distinguishes manslaughter from first-degree or second-degree murder. First-degree murder is incorrect because it requires premeditation and deliberation, which are absent in this emotionally charged and spontaneous act. Second-degree murder is inaccurate because it typically involves intentional killings without premeditation but does not account for mitigating factors like provocation. Justifiable homicide is not applicable in this case because the killing was not done in self-defense or under any legally recognized justification.
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