Facts
The case concerns a man, [S.], who killed his ex-partner, [B.], after the latter married another woman, [A.], with whom [S.] had had a romantic relationship. [S.] was convicted of murder (art. 111 SCC) and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He filed an appeal to the SCC, arguing that his act should be qualified as passionate murder (art. 113 SCC) due to his state of excusable deep distress.
The facts of the case are as follows: [S.] met [A.] in January 1986 and they had a romantic relationship until August 1990, when [A.] broke up with him. [S.] learned that [A.] had married [B.] on April 28, 1991, which triggered his murderous act. The Geneva Assize Court convicted [S.] of murder, considering that his state of deep distress was not excusable.
Considerations
The SCC examined the notion of passionate murder and excusable deep distress. According to art. 113 SCC, there is passionate murder if the offender killed while in a state of violent emotion that the circumstances made excusable or if they were in a state of deep distress at the time of the act. The Court considered that deep distress is a state of emotion that develops over a long period and can be made excusable by the victim's blameworthy behavior or by objective circumstances.
The Court examined the facts of the case and considered that [S.] had not acted under the influence of a violent emotion, but was in a state of deep distress. However, the Court estimated that this state of distress was not excusable, as it resulted from S.'s narcissistic personality and his inability to accept the end of…