A good lawyer could possibly get the guy at the end off

Would be tough. It was premeditated, not heat of the moment, and he did it in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses. Having said that, the prosecutor would probably be aware of the strong possibility of a sympathetic jury and would offer a plea deal to keep it form ever going to trial. He ends up doing a few years, but not life.

I don’t think this would happen. This was definitely premeditated murder. He got a gun, tracked her down and shot her in front of multiple witnesses.

I don’t think a sympathetic jury would be found here. The public in this film doesn’t know what we know about Marla.

Everyone is under the impression that she was this nice person that cared for the elderly. If the issue that he couldn’t see his mother was ever brought up, the Prosecution would bring up his history of violence against staff as an explanation as to why he couldn’t see his mother. They would portray him as a bad son.