CHICAGO –The California Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of a man who fatally stabbed his estranged girlfriend, Filipino-American Claire Joyce Tempongko, in front of her two children in Richmond, California 12 years ago.
A jury before Superior Court Judge Robert Dondero of San Francisco sentenced Tare Nicholas Beltran to 26 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of 28-year-old Tempongko.
Tempongko suffered 17 stab wounds in different parts of the body.
Beltran, who fled to Mexico, was arrested six years after the incident.
“We reaffirm today the standard for determining heat of passion that we adopted nearly a century ago. Provocation is adequate only when it would render an ordinary person of average disposition liable to act rashly or without due deliberation and reflection, and from this passion rather than from judgment,†the state’s high court said in reversing the majority decision of the California Court of Appeals two years ago.
“We decline the Attorney General’s invitation to deviate from this venerable understanding that has been faithfully applied by juries for decades,†it added.
Tempongko’s son, identified only as “JN,†who was nine years old when the killing occurred on Oct. 22, 2000, testified during the trial that his mother was arguing with someone on the phone and telling the caller not to come to the apartment.
He said Beltran barged into the apartment after 45 minutes and had an argument with his mother for about 10 minutes before he took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her.
However, Beltran claimed he was only provoked after Tempongko mentioned about aborting their child.
The high court, however, gave credence to the testimony of JN that his mother never mentioned having abortion. “Even if the victim did mention an abortion, the alleged statements did not amount to adequate provocation,†the high court said.
“The heat of passion arises if, at the time of the killing, the reason of the accused was obscured or disturbed by passion to such an extent as would cause the ordinary reasonable person of average disposition to act rashly,†the high court noted.