The court used the test for implied malice in an unintentional killing to assess the merits of the defendants argument.

The remaining ways are implied malice.

Implied malice in an unintentional killing is an actual appreciation of a high risk that is objectively present.

Originally the show was titled 'Prank Puppets' but was renamed after Comedy Central lawyers deemed that it implied malice.

"The murder charge stems from public outrage," said Mr. Keane, adding that there was not enough evidence in the case to prove the "implied malice" required for murder.

Implied malice is proven by acts that involve reckless indifference to human life or in a death that occurs during the commission of certain felonies (the felony murder rule).

This continuing common law was the basis of the decision in DPP v Smith where the Lords confirmed that neither expressed nor implied malice had been repealed by the section.

Berry contended that the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing failed to establish implied malice; and there is no evidence that the animal was mischievous or was kept without ordinary care.

In contrast, the Court found that the appellate court had set the bar too low, finding that implied malice would be possible if the defendant were aware her conduct risked causing serious bodily injury.

The trial judge ordered a new trial on Knoller's second-degree murder count, ruling that implied malice requires a defendant to subjectively know that his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death.

The Court held that the trial court had set the bar too high, finding that implied malice would be possible only if the defendant knew his or her conduct had a high probability of resulting in death.

"When a defendant commits an act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to human life, with a conscious disregard for life in general, he acts with implied malice towards those he ends up killing," Justice Brown wrote.

Still, jurors emphasized that what led them to find Ms. Knoller guilty of implied malice - the standard for a murder conviction - were the many warnings the couple received that indicated the two dogs in their care were dangerous.

Experts point to potential legal liabilities that the shooter incurs if using handloaded ammunition for defense, such as an implied malice on the part of the shooter, as the use of handloaded ammunition may give the impression that "regular bullets weren't deadly enough".

Hence, the Act did not abolish the principles of expressed malice or implied malice, i.e. malice could be implied by the words and expressions used by the accused, or there was a set of circumstances from which malice could be implied.

On June 1, 2007, the California Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeal's decision, ruling that the correct standard of implied malice was not simply an awareness of the risk of serious bodily harm, but requires proof that a defendant acted with conscious disregard of the danger to human life.

Mr. Sanderson said the murder charge for both would have been appropriate because, in California, the theory of implied malice holds that if owners put a dog in a situation where they know it can hurt somebody - in this case, an apartment building - and know the dog is dangerous but fail to safeguard residents, they are culpable.