Court Opinion

ID: 9764746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:38:40.097286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:00.993369
License: Public Domain

BARDGETT, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I concur in parts I and III and in the result reached by the principal opinion. As to part II, I am not certain that murder in the second degree or manslaughter can never be submitted upon a trial for first-degree (felony) murder. On the facts of this case — the defendant not being present at all and his culpability totally depending upon whether he aided and abetted the robbery — I agree that murder in the second degree was not submissible nor was there evidence sufficient to support such a conviction. Prosecutors should bear this case in mind so that, if they intend to submit on second-degree murder or manslaughter where the highest charge is first-degree (felony) murder, it would be well to specifically charge murder in the second degree as a separate count.