Opinion ID: 515812
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: failure to instruct on felony murder

Text: 213 Petitioner Muhammad raises as one ground for granting the writ of habeas corpus the error of the trial court in failing to instruct the jury on the underlying elements of the felonies of kidnapping and robbery. Petitioner claims that the trial court instructed the jury that a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree could be returned under either a premeditated murder theory or a felony-murder theory. Error requiring the granting of the writ occurred, Petitioner contends, because the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the elements of the crimes constituting the underlying felonies. The issue was raised on appeal to the Supreme Court of Florida, which held, in denying Petitioner's appeal on the stated grounds: 214 The record in the instant cause reflects that the trial judge gave the general definitive instructions for homicide but did not specifically instruct upon the elements of the underlying felony of kidnapping or robbery. There was no request or objection by petitioner's trial counsel to this failure to give these instructions. 215