Opinion ID: 1379228
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Is First or Second Degree Manslaughter a Lesser Included Offense of Second Degree Felony Murder?

Text: The right to have a lesser included offense instruction presented to the jury is, in appropriate cases, a statutory right. See State v. Bowerman, 115 Wash.2d 794, 805, 802 P.2d 116 (1990). This right arises out of RCW 10.61.006, which states [i]n all other cases the defendant may be found guilty of an offense the commission of which is necessarily included within that which he is charged in the indictment or information. Either the defense or the prosecution is entitled to request a lesser included offense instruction and we have developed a two-part test for determining when such an instruction is warranted: First, each of the elements of the lesser offense must be a necessary element of the offense charged [legal prong]. Second, the evidence in the case must support an inference that the lesser crime was committed [factual prong]. State v. Workman, 90 Wash.2d 443, 447-48, 584 P.2d 382 (1978) (citations omitted). Because the trial court rejected Tamalini's proposed instruction on the basis that first and second degree manslaughter are not, as a matter of law, lesser included offenses of second degree felony murder, we review the claimed error de novo. State v. Lucky, 128 Washed 727, 731, 912 P.2d 483 (1996), overruled on other grounds by State v. Berlin, 133 Wash.2d 541, 947 P.2d 700 (1997) (citing Braden v. Rees, 5 Wash.App. 106, 110, 485 P.2d 995, review denied, 79 Wash.2d 1009 (1971)). Tamalini's contention that first and second degree manslaughter are lesser included offenses of second degree felony murder fails the legal prong of the Workman analysis. Our conclusion in that regard is fully supported by our previous decision in State v. Davis, 121 Wash.2d 1, 6, 846 P.2d 527 (1993). Davis, like Tamalini, was charged with second degree felony murder with second degree assault as the predicate felony. He requested a jury instruction almost identical to that sought here by Tamalini. The trial court refused to give the proposed instruction and Davis was ultimately convicted of second degree felony murder. Davis thereafter appealed to the Court of Appeals, Division One, which reversed his conviction, concluding that it was error to fail to give the proposed instruction. State v. Davis, 64 Wash.App. 511, 827 P.2d 298 (1992), rev'd 121 Wash.2d 1, 846 P.2d 527 (1993). On review, we reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated Davis's conviction, concluding that there are no lesser included offenses to second degree felony murder. Davis, 121 Wash.2d at 6, 846 P.2d 527. In Davis, we relied, in part, on State v. Dennison, 115 Wash.2d 609, 801 P.2d 193 (1990) and State v. Frazier, 99 Wash.2d 180, 661 P.2d 126 (1983), [1] cases in which we held that both degrees of manslaughter are not lesser included offenses of first degree felony murder because the specific mental elements of first and second degree manslaughter are not elements of first degree felony murder. Applying that rationale to second degree felony murder, which does not structurally differ from first degree felony murder, we concluded that all of the elements of the lesser offenses were not necessary elements of the greater offense. Davis, 121 Wash.2d at 6-7, 846 P.2d 527. Davis is controlling. We conclude, therefore, that the trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury that first and second degree manslaughter are lesser included offenses of second degree felony murder.