Summary of People v. Campbell, Court of Appeals of Michigan (1983)

Defendant: Campbell, the defendant and a suicide victim were drinking together and the defendant told the victim that he had sex with his wife, further worsening the sorrow of the victim. The victim told the defendant that he wanted to die but he did not have a gun. The defendant sold the victim a gun which was used by the victim in the suicide. Now the defendant was charged and convicted with murder.

Issue: Did the defendant’s actions mount up to the level of murder?

Holding: No

Legal Reasoning: The court stated that the definition of murder is ‘killing of a human being by another human being’. The court ruled that the defendant’s actions do not meet this definition. The defendant only provided the victim with a weapon and he only hoped for him to kill himself. Hope alone, according to the court, is not murder and this is why the defendant’s conviction for murder was reversed.