Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Charged crime, time served

The killing could be charged as any one of several different crimes, including the various degrees of murder and manslaughter. If the killing appears justifiable (e.g., if it seems to have been in self-defense or defense of another), the dealer might not be charged at all.

The suspect's drug use and resulting lack of memory would create logistical problems in the investigation, but would probably not affect the legal merits of the case. California law does not recognize a defense of mental impairment, especially where that impairment resulted from the defendant's voluntary abuse of drugs or alcohol. Unless the drugs affected him to the point of legal insanity (which would be extremely difficult to prove given his lack of memory), their effect would not matter to the police, the prosecutors or the court.

Prosecutors would decide whether and how to charge the defendant based upon all of the evidence available to them. The defendant's lack of memory wouldn't be a major factor in their decision; indeed, they might not know about it at all if the defendant refuses to talk to them.

There are many sources of information available to the authorities besides the defendant. The police and investigators would talk to any witnesses they could find. They would conduct a forensic examination of the crime scene and the weapon (if they find it). The coroner would conduct an autopsy to learn how the victim died. The investigators would interview people who knew the defendant and the victim to learn about the relationship between them. They would try to retrace the defendant's steps in the days prior to the killing to see if there is evidence he planned the attack. They would examine his phone, email and internet records looking for similar evidence. They would search his home and car, as well as those of the victim and of any third parties whose homes or cars might contain pertinent evidence. They would probably have a mountain of evidence by the time they were done with all of this, and would make their decision based upon that evidence. The defendant's own lack of memory wouldn't matter much.

Even if the defendant is charged with first-degree murder, the jury would usually be free to find him guilty of a lesser included offense (a lesser degree of murder, for example, or some form of manslaughter).

His sentence would depend upon what he is convicted of. This means not only the central crime, but also any additional crimes (like the drug use you mentioned) as well as any enhancements based upon his criminal history, use of a gun, the circumstances of the crime, etc. Even after the jury has decided which crimes and enhancements apply, the judge would have a certain amount of discretion to choose a sentence.