“[O]ne who controls his temper time after time, following repeated acts of provocation, may have his emotion so bottled-up that the final result is an emotional explosion …. [I]n such a case the ‘cooling time’ begins to run not from earlier acts, but from ‘the last straw.’ … As was the position in regard to the adequacy of the provocation, so the early holding was that the cooling time was a matter of law for the court.” Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 100 (3d ed. 1982).
cooling time
cooling time. Criminal law. Time to recover cool blood after great excitement, stress, or provocation, so that one is considered able to contemplate, comprehend, and act with reference to the consequences that are likely to follow. See COOL BLOOD. [Cases: Homicide 669.]
