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Helen Wu (D) and Gary Wu met in China. They married other people. Gary initiated contact with D many years later. D was divorced. Gary told D that he was going to divorce his wife. D believed that Gary would marry her and she came to the United States. D conceived a child from the reunion, but left the child with Gary and returned to China when he did not marry her. Gary finally married D eight years later, but she believed it was only for the money he thought she had. D believed that their son was looked down upon because of his illegitimacy. The only person who showed kindness to the son was D's grandmother. D learned that the grandmother was dying. D suffered an intense emotional outbreak and strangled the boy and then attempted to kill herself so that she could take care of her son in the afterlife. D was charged with murder. The trial court refused to give jury instructions for D's defense of unconsciousness when she strangled her son, and the effect her cultural background had on her mental state at the time. D was convicted of second-degree murder and appealed.

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