Opinion ID: 461095
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: second degree felony murder charge

Text: 41 Aldrich claims that under Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980), and Hopper v. Evans, 456 U.S. 605, 102 S.Ct. 2049, 72 L.Ed.2d 367 (1982), the trial judge violated Aldrich's due process rights when he did not instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of second degree felony murder. At the outset, it strains credulity that Aldrich would raise such a claim now and, moreover, that he would repeatedly characterize the fact that the trial judge did not deliver such a charge as a refusal. A review of the trial transcript reveals not only that Aldrich never requested the second degree felony murder instruction at trial, but that he and his attorney both objected vociferously but unsuccessfully to the trial judge's earnest attempts to instruct the jury on any lesser included offenses. 42 At the close of the evidence, Aldrich submitted a motion to the trial judge that included the following specific request: 43 That the Court charge the jury only on the offense of murder in the first degree as charged in the amended indictment filed herein and not include any charge as to any lesser included offense other than that of not guilty. 44 When questioned by the trial judge, Aldrich explained that he submitted the motion because he did not want to be convicted of an offense that would send him back to prison. The court initially stated an intention to grant the motion, but then after additional argument the following colloquy took place: 45 THE COURT: Excuse me for interrupting you [spoken to defense counsel]. I think the simplest thing to do, and the thing for me to do is to deny the defendant's request that the matter be submitted solely on murder in the first degree and not guilty, and require verdicts in second and third degree and manslaughter. 46 MR. SCHWARZ [defense counsel]: Defendant objects to that, Your Honor. 47 THE COURT: Well, you certainly can. 48 MR. SCHWARZ: I object to the reading of any definition of degrees of homicide other than murder in the first degree. 49 The court proceeded to instruct the jury on the lesser degrees of murder, but it gave no instruction on second degree felony murder. 50 Even overlooking the fact that Aldrich was opposed to any instructions on lesser included offenses, his claim lacks merit. In Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980), the Court held unconstitutional an Alabama statute prohibiting a trial judge from giving a lesser included non-capital offense charge in a capital case where the defendant had testified that he participated in the robbery but, casting the blame on his accomplice, consistently denied killing the robbery victim or intending his death. In Hopper v. Evans, 456 U.S. 605, 102 S.Ct. 2049, 72 L.Ed.2d 367 (1982), the Supreme Court held there was no due process violation in failing to give a lesser included offense instruction in a capital case where there was no evidentiary basis to support a finding of such offense. See also Spaziano v. Florida, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340 (1984). Florida law prohibits instructions on lesser included offenses where there is no evidence to support a conviction on the lesser included offense. See Hitchcock v. Wainwright, 745 F.2d 1332, 1341 (11th Cir.1984), on pet. for reh'g and reh'g en banc, 745 F.2d 1348 (11th Cir.1985). 51 Under Florida law, liability for second degree felony murder occurs when the individual perpetrates the underlying felony as an accessory before the fact but does not personally engage in it. Adams v. State, 341 So.2d 765, 768 (Fla.1976) (per curiam), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 878, 98 S.Ct. 232, 54 L.Ed.2d 158 (1977). Aldrich suggests that the jury could have disbelieved both his own alibi testimony claiming no involvement whatsoever in the crime and the testimony of Strickland directly implicating Aldrich as the triggerman and then, using the testimony of other witnesses, constructed its own theory that Aldrich was somehow an accessory before the fact. Neither Aldrich nor his counsel in any way suggested such a theory to the jury. The evidence at trial was insufficient to show facts necessary for a second degree felony murder conviction. No such instruction was constitutionally required. 52