Homicide Defense Lawyer in San Diego

There is no more serious accusation in the criminal justice system than being charged with taking another person's life. If you are reading this because you or someone you love was just arrested, take a breath. What happens in the first days of a homicide case matters, and there are concrete steps that protect the person accused.

The first is silence. A person accused of a crime has an absolute right to remain silent, and in a homicide investigation that right is often the accused's single most important protection. Words spoken in shock, fear, or a sincere attempt to explain can be reshaped into evidence. Do not discuss the facts with police, with cellmates, on recorded jail phone lines, or even with well-meaning friends and relatives.

The second step is getting a defense lawyer involved immediately — not after arraignment, but now. Evidence begins disappearing the moment the incident ends, and the prosecution's investigation starts long before the first court date. At the Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen, homicide cases receive the sustained, methodical preparation their stakes demand.

A Homicide Defense Practice Tested at Jury Trial

Many criminal defense lawyers will accept a homicide case; far fewer have actually stood in front of a jury and tried one. Marc Kohnen has taken homicide cases to jury trial, including a first-degree murder trial — the Trayers case — that drew national media coverage. That trial experience matters even in cases that never reach a courtroom, because prosecutors weigh a defense lawyer's willingness and ability to try a case when deciding what to charge and what to offer.

Marc has also been called on by local media to explain homicide proceedings, including as a legal analyst for NBC 7 San Diego during the Millete murder trial. Every homicide client works directly with Marc from the first meeting through the last day in court.

The Spectrum of Homicide Charges in California

“Homicide” is not a single charge. California law recognizes a range of offenses involving the death of another person, and the difference between them is often the difference between a sentence measured in years and one measured in decades.

Murder, defined in Penal Code section 187, is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought, divided into first and second degree under section 189. Voluntary manslaughter, under section 192(a), is a killing that would otherwise be murder but occurred in a sudden quarrel or heat of passion; California courts also treat a killing committed under an honest but unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense as voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Involuntary manslaughter, under section 192(b), covers unintentional killings resulting from criminal negligence or certain unlawful acts. Vehicular manslaughter, under section 192(c), applies when a death results from negligent or unlawful driving, and is frequently charged alongside DUI allegations.

Each of these offenses is examined in more depth on its own page — murder, manslaughter, and vehicular manslaughter — but the essential point is this: the charge the District Attorney files is a decision, not a fact. Prosecutors routinely charge the most serious offense the evidence could arguably support, and a central job of the defense is to test whether the evidence actually proves that offense rather than a lesser one, or any offense at all.

Malice Aforethought and the Degrees of Murder

The concept that separates murder from manslaughter is malice aforethought, and despite the archaic phrasing it has a fairly plain meaning. Malice can be express — a deliberate intent to kill — or implied, which the law finds when someone intentionally does an act dangerous to human life, knowing the danger and acting with conscious disregard for it. Malice does not require hatred of the victim, and “aforethought” does not require long planning; it simply means the mental state existed before the act.

First-degree murder generally requires proof of willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation — a considered decision to kill, even if that decision formed quickly. California law also elevates certain killings to first degree by the manner of the act, such as lying in wait, and certain killings committed during specified serious felonies under the felony-murder rule. Everything else that qualifies as murder is second degree — a killing with malice, but without premeditation or another elevating circumstance.

Much of the work in a murder trial is fought over exactly this ground: not whether a death occurred, but what was in the defendant's mind in the moments before it — and a jury's answer to that question can change the sentence by decades.

Felony Murder After Senate Bill 1437

For generations, California's felony-murder rule allowed a person to be convicted of murder for a death that occurred during certain felonies — even if that person never intended anyone to die. A getaway driver could face the same murder liability as the person who pulled the trigger.

Senate Bill 1437, which took effect in 2019, significantly narrowed that rule. In general terms, a person who did not actually kill can now be convicted of felony murder only in limited circumstances — such as where the evidence shows they intended to kill and aided the killing, or were a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life. The law also created a resentencing procedure, now found at Penal Code section 1172.6, through which some people convicted under the older, broader doctrines can petition to have their convictions reexamined.

This is a technical and still-developing area of law, and whether it applies depends heavily on the specific facts. But for anyone charged as an accomplice in a case involving a death — or already serving a murder sentence under the old rules — it is worth exploring carefully with counsel.

Penalties: What a Conviction Can Mean

California sentencing law for homicide is severe. The ranges below are general guideposts, not predictions — actual exposure depends on the charges, allegations, enhancements, and the defendant's history.

First-degree murder generally carries 25 years to life in state prison; second-degree murder generally carries 15 years to life. Where the prosecution proves one or more special circumstances under Penal Code section 190.2 — such as murder for financial gain, murder during specified felonies, or murder of more than one victim — the penalty is life without the possibility of parole, or in rare cases death.

Manslaughter sentences are determinate but still substantial. Voluntary manslaughter carries a state prison term measured in years — up to eleven at the high end. Involuntary manslaughter carries a shorter range, and vehicular manslaughter spans a wide range depending on the degree of negligence and whether alcohol or drugs were involved.

Enhancements can dramatically increase any of these figures. California's firearm enhancements under Penal Code section 12022.53 can add years — in the most serious cases decades — when a gun was used in certain felonies, and gang allegations or prior strikes can compound exposure further. Because enhancements sometimes carry more time than the underlying charge, challenging them is often as important as challenging the charge itself.

Self-Defense and Defense of Others

California law has long recognized that a person may use force — including, in the gravest situations, deadly force — to protect themselves or someone else. As the standard jury instructions frame it, a killing is justified when the person reasonably believed that they or another were in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, reasonably believed immediate force was necessary, and used no more force than reasonably necessary under the circumstances.

Each of those elements is contested territory at trial. Was the danger truly imminent, or merely feared? Would a reasonable person in the defendant's position have perceived the same threat? Was the response proportional? The prosecution bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not justified, and a properly developed self-defense case can end in a full acquittal.

California also recognizes what courts call imperfect self-defense. If a person actually believed they faced imminent deadly danger and that lethal force was necessary, but one of those beliefs was unreasonable, the killing is not justified — but it is not murder either. The honest belief negates malice, reducing the offense to voluntary manslaughter. Where the difference between murder and manslaughter is the difference between a life sentence and a determinate term, few doctrines matter more.

What Defending a Homicide Case Actually Involves

A homicide defense is an investigation, not just a court appearance. The prosecution's case is built by homicide detectives, crime-scene units, laboratories, and the medical examiner's office, starting within hours of the death. A defense that simply waits to see the government's evidence starts the race from far behind.

Effective defense work begins with the scene and the physical evidence: documenting conditions before they change, identifying witnesses before memories fade, and preserving surveillance video, phone data, and other records that are routinely overwritten within days or weeks. From there, the case typically requires independent forensic review — a pathologist to scrutinize the autopsy findings, ballistics and firearms examiners where a shooting is involved, and DNA, toxicology, or accident-reconstruction analysis as the facts demand. The government's forensic conclusions are opinions, and opinions can be tested.

Human evidence gets the same scrutiny. Eyewitness identification is among the most persuasive evidence a jury hears and among the least reliable, particularly in high-stress or poor-visibility conditions. Statements attributed to the accused deserve equally close examination: whether Miranda rights were honored, and whether the interrogation methods tend to produce unreliable admissions.

All of this takes time. A homicide case is typically measured in months of preparation — reviewing thousands of pages of discovery, litigating motions over the admissibility of evidence, and building the narrative the jury will ultimately hear. That investment is what creates leverage, whether the case ends in a negotiated resolution, a reduction of charges, or a verdict after trial.

How Serious Felony Cases Move Through San Diego Courts

Homicide cases follow the same basic path as other felonies in San Diego County, but with higher stakes at every stage. The case begins with arraignment, where charges are formally presented and custody is addressed. Families should be prepared for a hard reality: in murder cases, bail — when set at all — is typically far beyond what most families can post, and in special-circumstance cases the accused may be held without bail.

The next major milestone is the preliminary hearing, where a judge decides whether the prosecution has presented enough evidence to require the accused to stand trial. The government's burden at this stage is low, so most homicide cases are held to answer — but the hearing is far from a formality. It is an early opportunity to hear key witnesses testify under oath, lock in their accounts, and expose the seams in the prosecution's theory.

After the preliminary hearing comes the long middle of the case: formal discovery, pretrial motions over what evidence a jury will hear, and ongoing investigation by both sides. The pace can feel agonizing for families — but in serious cases, time spent in preparation generally works in the defense's favor.

Common Questions from Families and the Accused

These questions come up in nearly every homicide case. The answers are general — every case turns on its own facts, and nothing here substitutes for advice about a specific situation.

A family member was just arrested for murder. What should we do first?

Two things, in this order. First, get word to your family member — through counsel if necessary — not to discuss the case with anyone: not police, not cellmates, not visitors, and not on jail phones, which are recorded. Second, retain a defense lawyer as quickly as possible so the defense investigation can begin while evidence and witnesses are still available. Do not wait for arraignment; by then, the prosecution has been building its case for days.

Can a murder charge be reduced to manslaughter?

In appropriate cases, yes. Heat of passion and imperfect self-defense can reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter, and weaknesses in the proof of malice or premeditation can move a case from first degree to second degree or below. Reductions happen through negotiation, pretrial litigation, and jury verdicts on lesser included offenses — and whether any of those paths is realistic depends on the evidence, which is why early defense investigation matters so much.

Will bail be set in a homicide case?

Often not at a level a family can meet, and sometimes not at all. Judges weigh public safety and the seriousness of the charge heavily, and in special-circumstance cases the accused may be held without bail. The defense can contest custody by pointing to community ties, lack of record, and the strength of the evidence, but families should plan for a loved one charged with murder remaining in custody while the case is pending.

How long will the case take?

Longer than almost any other kind of criminal case. Between the volume of discovery, forensic analysis on both sides, and pretrial motion practice, homicide cases commonly take a year or more to resolve. A defendant has the right to a speedy trial and can insist on it, but in most serious cases thorough preparation serves the defense better than speed. Your lawyer should be able to explain, at each stage, what is happening and why.

Book a Confidential Homicide Consultation in San Diego

If you or a loved one is facing a homicide investigation or charge, the most important decisions in the case are being made right now — by detectives, by prosecutors, and by the person in custody every time they speak. Do not discuss the facts of the case with anyone except a lawyer; conversations outside the attorney-client relationship are not protected and can be used as evidence.

At the Law Office of Marc S. Kohnen, every homicide consultation is confidential, and every case begins the same way: with a careful, unhurried review of the facts, the charges, and the realistic paths forward. You get one chance to defend a case of this magnitude. Call the office to speak with Marc directly.