State v. Rhoiney
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The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for felony murder, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, and aggravated assault, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings below.
At his first trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal discharge of a firearm at a vehicle and aggravated assault, but the jury deadlocked on Defendant's felony-murder charge. After a second trial on the remaining charge, Defendant was convicted of felony murder. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court properly instructed the second jury on felony murder; (2) the State committed prosecutorial error in the first trial when it improperly appealed to the passions of the community, but the district court's prompt instruction to disregard cured this error, and any other assumed prosecutorial error was harmless; (3) the district court did not err in either trial by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of discharge of a firearm from a roadway; (4) there was no error in the jury instructions; and (5) the cumulative effect of any error was harmless.
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