Jim is correct. The state of mind which distinguishes murder from voluntary manslaughter is malice or evil intent or evil and malicious disposition. Evidence from which could be inferred a predisposition to resort to lethal force in retaliation for a mere annoyance could therefore be considered evidence of malice supporting a murder charge.Jim K said:Frank Ettin may correct me on this, but IIRC it is NOT necessary to make a threat against a specific individual to be found guilty of murder if you kill someone. If you post something like, "The next time some creep hassles me I am going to shoot the &^%$%." could certainly be taken as proof of intent to kill if you do shoot a "creep."...