Opinion ID: 2630955
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: failure to give an unintentional second-degree murder instruction

Text: The district court instructed the jury on felony murder, intentional second-degree murder, and involuntary manslaughter. Becker contends on appeal that the trial court erred by failing to give an instruction on the lesser included offense of unintentional second-degree murder. He did not object at trial to the lack of that instruction, and he did not propose the instruction. An appellate court reviewing a district court's failure to give a particular instruction applies a clearly erroneous standard where a party neither suggested an instruction nor objected to its omission. State v. Cooperwood, 282 Kan. 572, 581, 147 P.3d 125 (2006); see K.S.A. 22-3414(3). When a murder is committed during the commission of a felony, the rule requiring instructions on lesser included offenses does not apply. The felonious conduct is tantamount to the elements of deliberation and premeditation that are otherwise required for first-degree murder. It is only when the evidence of the underlying felony is weak, inconclusive, or conflicting that instructions on lesser included offenses may be required. State v. Hoffman, 288 Kan. 100, Syl. ¶ 4, 200 P.3d 1254 (2009). The State relied on three kidnapping counts to establish the felonies underlying the felony-murder count. Becker argues that the evidence supporting the kidnappings was weak, inconclusive, or conflicting. The analysis of whether the evidence supported the kidnapping counts returns to the argument Becker raised in his third issue. As we discussed above, the evidence supporting the kidnappings was strong and conclusive. The jury found that Becker killed Richardson while committing an inherently dangerous felony. It would not matter whether the jury believed the killing was intentional or merely reckless or even committed in attempting to protect himself. In order to find the possibility that the jury might have convicted under a theory of unintentional second-degree murder, this court would have to find that the jury improperly convicted Becker under the three kidnapping counts. We refuse to make such a finding. The conviction is affirmed. JOHNSON, J., concurring: I concur in the result, including the determination that it was not clearly erroneous for the trial court to fail to give a lesser included offense instruction on unintentional second-degree murder. I write separately to reiterate my disagreement with the court-made special rule for lesser included instructions in felony-murder cases. See State v. Jones, 287 Kan. 547, 558, 198 P.3d 756 (2008) (Johnson, J., concurring).