Opinion ID: 2625007
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: attempted manslaughter instruction

Text: ¶ 18 Defendant argues that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of attempted manslaughter for Count I, the attempted aggravated murder of Officer Idle. Under State v. Baker, 671 P.2d 152, 159 (Utah 1983), a defendant is entitled to a requested lesser-included offense instruction if (1) the two offenses are related because some of their statutory elements overlap, and the evidence at trial of the greater offense involves proof of some or all of those overlapping elements; and (2) the evidence provides a rational basis for a verdict acquitting the defendant of the offense charged and convicting the defendant of the lesser-included offense. ¶ 19 Defendant asserts that the first test of Baker was met in this case because the elements of attempted aggravated murder and attempted manslaughter overlapped in that both require proof of an attempted intentional killing. Defendant claims that the second requirement of Baker was also satisfied because defendant's testimony provided a rational basis for the jury to acquit him of attempted aggravated murder and convict him of attempted manslaughter. The evidence defendant put forth in support of this contention is that defendant did not see the emergency equipment (i.e. flashing lights) on Officer Idle's car, he did not know that Officer Idle was a police officer, and he grabbed his gun and began to fire only after he saw Officer Idle begin walking towards him with his gun raised. ¶ 20 We agree with defendant that the Baker requirements were satisfied and that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of attempted manslaughter. However, we hold that this error was harmless. As we have previously explained, harmless error is an error that is sufficiently inconsequential that there is no reasonable likelihood that it affected the outcome of the proceedings. State v. Robertson, 932 P.2d 1219, 1227 (Utah 1997). Put differently, an error is harmful only if the likelihood of a different outcome is sufficiently high that it undermines our confidence in the verdict. Id. ¶ 21 In this case, the State offered testimony from several witnesses that contradicted defendant's sole testimony that he did not realize he had been pulled over by or had shot a police officer. First, Alepino Lavaka and Shiloh Griffin, passengers in defendant's car, testified that they knew they were being pulled over by police. Lavaka testified that before defendant stopped the car, defendant said, Oh . . . we're getting pulled over. Lavaka also said that he saw flashing red and blue lights reflected in the rearview mirror. Griffin said that she thought she saw red and blue flashing lights. The testimony of defendant's companions was consistent with the testimony of the police officers and passers-by also offered by the State to show that defendant had to have known that he was being pulled over by an officer. Officers Evans, Newbold and Idle all testified that the red and blue emergency lights and the wig-wag headlights on Officer Idle's car were engaged when Officer Idle pulled over defendant's car. Furthermore, three passing motorists also testified that they saw a car being pulled over by a police car with its red and blue lights flashing. ¶ 22 Only the testimony of defendant, that he was unaware that the driver of the car pursuing him was an officer, stands counter to this evidence. He offers no explanation as to how he saw Officer Idle, gun in hand, standing in front of the police car with its red and blue flashing lights, but failed to see the lights when looking carefully enough to see the gun in the officer's hand. Defendant's observation of Officer Idle, according to defendant's testimony, occurred prior to defendant reaching for his gun, cocking it, and firing. Additionally, for the jury to have accepted defendant's theory that he believed that he was being pursued by a sinister individual intent on harm without lawful motive, the jury would have also had to disbelieve or reconcile the contradictory testimony, of defendant's companions and their report of defendant's own statement that they were being pulled over. ¶ 23 Defendant asks much of the jury. Given this evidence, our confidence in the jury's verdict for attempted aggravated murder is not undermined, and we conclude that it was harmless error for the trial court to fail to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of attempted manslaughter.