</s>he shot the Senator. Appellant had capacity to harbor malice aforethought, to form maturely and meaningfully an intent to kill his victim, to premeditate, and to reflect upon the gravity of the contemplated act. (Rep. tr. pp. 7619), 7621-23, 7665-67, 7671-72.) In arriving at this conclusion Dr. Pollack took into account the following psychological functions of appellant: . . Consciousness, state of awareness, alertness, the capacity for attention, the ability to perceive, to develop perceptions, to make meaningful associations out of what the individual senses, the person's ability to have foresight, the ability to look forward . . . abilities to recall, as well; the ability to understand . . and . . . .. . . .. . .. . .. .. . ... .. evaluation of the freedom of choice." (Rep. Tr. pp ., 7643-44). Among the reasons for Dr.Pollack's conclusions that appellant did not suffer from diminished mental capacity or psychotic mental illness were appellant's lack of any impairment in consciousness, reasoning, 127. 2025 RELEASE UNDER E.O. 14176

Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder for assassinating Senator Robert Kennedy. The trial court denied his motion for mistrial due to pre-trial publicity, despite four jurors being exposed to news media reports that he might enter a plea of guilty. The court held that the record would show that practically everyone's responses to questions by the Court said they could set aside these matters if they did hear them and decide the case only on the evidence produced here in court and the law as stated to them by me.

The trial court examined each of the jurors and alternate jurors individually in chambers, and denied the motion for mistrial. The prosecution's argument was not improper as it did not affirmatively ask for the death penalty. The evidence presented at trial showed that Sirhan was unable to comprehend his duty to govern his actions in accord with the law and thus did not act with malice aforethought.

The court found that Sirhan lacked the capacity to naturally and meaningfully premeditate, deliberate, and reflect upon the gravity of his contemplated act or form an intent to kill due to his paranoid schizophrenic personality, alcohol consumption, and dissociation state. However, this was not sufficient to reduce the degree of the offense from first-degree murder.

The court noted that Sirhan had ample time for any normal person to reflect maturity and appreciatively on his contemplated act and to arrive at a cold, deliberate, and premeditated conclusion. The evidence showed that Sirhan was able to plan and execute the assassination of Senator Kennedy with precision and deliberation.

John F. Kennedy is not mentioned in this document. There are no references to the JFK assassination or related investigations. The document discusses several court cases involving murder convictions, including People v. Nicolaus and People v. Bassett, which involved evaluations of the defendants' mental capacity to determine if they were capable of premeditating their actions.

The prosecution presented evidence that Sirhan had ample time for any normal person to reflect maturity and appreciatively on his contemplated act and to arrive at a cold, deliberate, and premeditated conclusion. The evidence showed that Sirhan was able to plan and execute the assassination of Senator Kennedy with precision and deliberation.

The court found that Sirhan's claim of diminished capacity is without merit, and the judgment should not be modified to reduce the degree of the offense.

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