Opinion ID: 2551782
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Jury Instructions Failed To Sufficiently Instruct The Jury On The Elements Of Attempted Second Degree Murder.

Text: Whether the jury instructions fairly and adequately present the issues and state the applicable law is a question of law over which this Court exercises free review. State v. Bush, 131 Idaho 22, 32, 951 P.2d 1249, 1259 (1997). When this Court reviews jury instructions, it must first determine whether the instructions as a whole, and not individually, fairly and accurately reflect the applicable law. State v. Row, 131 Idaho 303, 310, 955 P.2d 1082, 1089 (1998). An instruction is not reversible error unless it misled the jury or prejudiced the complaining party. Id. This Court has recently held that jury instructions on attempted second degree murder must include the element of intent necessary for the crime of attempt. In State v. Buckley, 131 Idaho 164, 953 P.2d 604 (1998), a jury convicted Buckley of attempted second degree murder. Id. On appeal, Buckley claimed that the jury instructions were incorrect because they did not include the necessary element of intent required for a conviction of attempt. Id. at 165, 953 P.2d at 605. Quoting I.C. § 18-4002, the Court in Buckley explained that malice is broken down into two forms of intent. There is express intent which contains a manifest intention, and implied intent which entails killing with an abandoned or malignant heart. Buckley, 131 Idaho at 165, 953 P.2d at 605. The Court held that implied malice was not sufficient to convict Buckley of attempted second degree murder. Id. The Court therefore vacated the conviction and remanded for a new trial. Id. at 167, 953 P.2d at 607. In Luke's case, the jury was instructed that: You will notice that the crime of MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE, as charged in this case, does not require a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that torture be inflicted with the intent to cause suffering, to execute vengeance, to extort something from the victim, or to satisfy some sadistic inclination as does the crime of MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE by torture. It does, however, require the intentional application of torture to a human being, which results in the death of a human being. This jury instruction allows the jury to convict Luke absent a finding of specific intent. Thus, the jury could have convicted Luke on a basis of less than a specific intent to kill Kjera. In cases where it is not possible to determine if the jury reached the verdict on the correct or incorrect legal theory, this Court must vacate the conviction and remand the case for a new trial. Buckley, 131 Idaho at 166-67, 953 P.2d at 606-07. Therefore, because it is not possible to determine on which basis the jury found Luke guilty, we vacate the conviction of attempted second degree murder.