Blakeley

In the companion case of People v. Lasko (2000) 23 Cal.4th 101 [ 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 441 , 999 P.2d 666 ], we hold that a defendant who, with conscious disregard for life and the knowledge that such conduct endangers the life of another, unintentionally but unlawfully kills in a sudden quarrel or the heat of passion is guilty only of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Here, we hold in a case of first impression that voluntary manslaughter is also committed when a defendant, acting with conscious disregard for life and the knowledge that the conduct is life-endangering, unintentionally but unlawfully kills while having an unreasonable but good faith belief in the need to act in self-defense.

I

On October 25, 1994, defendant George John Blakeley and his friend, David Fraire, spent the early afternoon drinking brandy in a park in Vallejo, California. They then went to defendant’s home. Also there were Steven Blakeley (defendant’s brother), Tony Santiago, and Lionel Vallo (a friend of Santiago’s). Fraire passed around bottles of beer, and Vallo bought $20 worth of methamphetamine from defendant.

Vallo, who had been drinking, asked about the quality of the…

I dissent.

I address an “important” question (People v. Breverman (1998) 19 Cal.4th 142, 184, fn. 1 [ 77 Cal.Rptr.2d 870 , 960 P.2d 1094 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.)) that I had heretofore “decline [d] to consider ... in detail and in depth” ( 19 Cal.4th at p. 184, fn. 1 ; accord, People v. Lee (1999) 20 Cal.4th 47, 70, fn. 1 [ 82 Cal.Rptr.2d 625 , 971 P.2d 1001 ] (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.)), namely, the “relationship between” the crimes of “murder and manslaughter” (People v. Breverman, supra, 19 Cal.4th at p. 184, fn. 1 (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.); accord, People v. Lee, supra, 20 Cal.4th at p. 70, fn. 1 (dis. opn. of Mosk, J.)).

A crime generally comprises elements of mental state and also conduct or consequences or both.

Murder is defined by statute as the “unlawful killing of a human being . . . with malice aforethought.” (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a).) A killing is *95 unlawful when it is not justified (see id., §§ 196-198.5, 199), as by self-defense (id., §§ 197-198.5), or excused (see id., §§ 195, 199), as by accident or misfortune (id., § 195). (People v. Frye (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1148, 1155 [ 10 Cal.Rptr.2d 217 ]; see People v. Thompson (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 40, 50 [ 93…