Opinion ID: 2630333
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Instructing on Both Felony Murder and Deliberate Murder

Text: {63} Defendant's other unpreserved jury instruction claim is that the district court erred in instructing the jury on both felony murder and deliberate murder theories. The two theories are alternative in the sense that either will support a conviction for first-degree murder, but they are not mutually exclusive. See Reyes, 2002-NMSC-024, ¶ 14 (On their face, the crimes of deliberate intent murder and felony murder are not inherently contradictory. In this case, the two crimes are not factually contradictory.). In this case, for reasons that have been amply discussed already, there was sufficient evidence to support both theories, and there was no error in supporting both for the jury's consideration. We therefore reject Defendant's challenges to the jury instructions.