Ricardi

Defendant Steven Louis Ricardi was driving under the influence of alcohol when his car crossed the center divider of a highway and collided head-on with another vehicle. The driver of the other car was killed and a passenger in the other car was seriously injured. Defendant was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and other offenses arising from the accident. The principal contention on appeal is that the jury should have been instructed that defendant’s intoxication may have rendered him incapable of harboring the malice aforethought required for murder. Since this argument is supported by the applicable authorities we must reverse the murder conviction.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Defendant has no less than six prior drunk-driving convictions, all based on guilty pleas, including one conviction stemming from an accident that injured another driver.

His first conviction for drunk driving occurred in October of 1973, when he was 22 years old. He was fined approximately $300.

Defendant’s second conviction for drunk driving occurred less than a year later, in October of 1974. He was fined $315, ordered to spend two days in county jail, and placed on…