State v. Candler, 1 CA-CR 16-0279

Corey Candler lived with M.W., his mother’s husband; they argued frequently and had a hostile relationship.
On June 24, 2014, after drinking, Candler loaded three rounds into a .357 Magnum, spun the cylinder, sat near M.W., and during a verbal exchange fired a shot that killed M.W.
Candler waited six hours before calling 911 and admitted he considered fleeing or provoking police.
He was indicted for second-degree murder (intentional, knowing, or reckless under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference) but the superior court declined to instruct on reckless second-degree murder.
Over Candler’s objection, the court instructed the jury on the lesser-included offense of reckless manslaughter; the jury convicted him, and he was sentenced to 10.5 years.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court erred by instructing the jury on reckless manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of second-degree murder	State: Lesser-included instruction was supported by evidence of recklessness	Candler: If evidence was insufficient for reckless second-degree murder, it was insufficient for reckless manslaughter	Court: No error — evidence supported manslaughter instruction though not the higher "extreme indifference" form of recklessness required for second-degree murder
Whether the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of recklessness for manslaughter	N/A (prosecution argued evidence showed conscious disregard of substantial risk)	Candler: Shooting was accidental during a struggle; he lacked the mental state for recklessness	Court: Evidence (loading a partially loaded gun, keeping finger on trigger, pointing at victim after argument and alcohol) permitted a rational juror to infer conscious disregard of substantial risk; conviction affirmed

State v. Hurley, 197 Ariz. 400 (App. 2000) (standard for entitlement to jury instructions on theories and lesser-included offenses)
State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290 (1995) (party entitled to instruction on any reasonably supported theory)
State v. Curry, 187 Ariz. 623 (App. 1996) (reckless second-degree murder requires higher quantum of recklessness than manslaughter)
State v. Walton, 133 Ariz. 282 (App. 1982) (distinguishing manslaughter’s recklessness from reckless second-degree murder’s extreme indifference)
State v. Woodall, 155 Ariz. 1 (App. 1987) (clarifying extreme indifference is an extreme form of recklessness, not a separate mental state)
State v. West, 226 Ariz. 559 (2011) (standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Mathers, 165 Ariz. 64 (1990) (relevant precedent on sufficiency review language)
State v. McGill, 213 Ariz. 147 (2006) (jury may infer awareness of substantial risk from circumstantial evidence)
State v. Payne, 233 Ariz. 484 (2013) (viewing facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury verdict)