The law of homicide recognizes victim provocation as a possible, mitigating factor from murder to manslaughter, or from criminal homicide to excusable homicide. There are four prerequisites:
1) There must have been adequate provocation;
2) The killing must have been in the heat of passion;
3) The killing must have followed the provocation before there had been a reasonable opportunity for the passion to cool; and
4) A causal connection must exist between provocation, the heat of passion, and the homicidal act.
Have the following cases filed by the Philadelphia Police met the four conditions?
