Opinion ID: 170276
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Second degree felony murder instruction

Text: Under Oklahoma law, there are two degrees of felony murder: A person . . . commits the crime of murder in the first degree, regardless of malice, when that person or any other person takes the life of a human being during, or if the death of a human being results from, the commission or attempted commission of [certain listed felonies, including] . . . robbery with a dangerous weapon. . . . OKLA. STAT. tit. 21, § 701.7. Homicide is murder in the second degree if perpetrated during the course of a felony not listed in § 701.7, such as robbery by force or fear. Id. Mr. Brown maintains that the murder occurred during the course of robbery by force or fear. Because robbery by force or fear is a lesser included offense of robbery with a dangerous weapon, he contends that the trial court should have instructed the jury on second-degree felony murder. The OCCA rejected this claim, stating In this case, the evidence clearly showed that the victim was beaten to death with a baseball bat, a dangerous weapon which was used to complete the robbery. Where there is no evidence to support a lesser included offense the court has no right to ask the jury to consider the issue. Boyd v. State, 1992 OK CR 40, ¶ 9, 839 P.2d 1363, 1367-68 [(1992)]. There was no evidence other than the evidence that a dangerous weapon was used to commit the robbery. Accordingly, we find no error. 989 P.2d at 930. We agree with the district court that the OCCA's decision is not an unreasonable application of federal law. Because the baseball bat was used to complete the robbery, Mr. Brown was not entitled to a second-degree murder instruction based on robbery by force or fear.