GA Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions (2013)

2.10.10 Malice Murder; Defined

A person commits murder when that person unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied, causes the death of another human being. Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of another human being, which is shown by external circumstances capable of proof. Malice may, but need not, be implied when no considerable  provocation appears and when all of the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart. It is for the jury to decide whether or not the facts and circumstances of this case show malice. To constitute murder, the homicide must have been committed with malice. Legal malice is not necessarily ill will or hatred, but it is the unlawful intention to kill without justification, excuse, or mitigation. If killing is done with malice, no matter how short a time the malicious intent may have existed, such killing constitutes murder. Georgia law does not require premeditation, and no particular length of time is required for malice to be generated in the mind of a person. It may be formed in a moment, and instantly a mortal wound may be inflicted. Yet, if malice is in the mind of the accused at the time of the doing of the act or killing and moves the accused to do it, such is sufficient to constitute the homicide as murder.