Vargas Can’t Be Convicted of First Degree Murder

The jury that will decide the fate of Benjamin Vargas was given its instructions for deliberation Thursday afternoon. Not included in what the 12-member panel could consider: first degree murder.

That’s because Judge George Eskin said that, based on the evidence, no rational trier of fact could find Vargas guilty of first degree murder, which requires premeditation and deliberation. The defendant is accused of stabbing to death Vincent Velasquez during an altercation in Isla Vista in May 2011.

The judge’s decision meant the jury was only instructed on the elements of second degree murder as well as voluntary manslaughter. It also meant the jury heard instructions about the defenses to those charges. While a second degree murder conviction would require that Vargas acted with “malice aforethought,” if the jury finds Vargas “acted upon a sudden quarrel” or “acted under the direct and immediate influence of provocation,” the charge could be reduced to voluntary manslaughter. As well, if Vargas acted in “imperfect self-defense,” second degree murder could be dropped to manslaughter.