State v. Owens
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of felony murder based on felonious assault of a child and reckless homicide as a lesser included offense of aggravated murder, holding that the trial court did not err in refusing to provide an instruction on reckless homicide.
Defendant was charged with aggravated murder, felony murder, and child endangering. The jury found Defendant guilty of felony murder. As to the aggravated murder charge, the jury found Defendant not guilty, instead finding her guilty of the lesser included offense of reckless homicide. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by not giving a reckless homicide instruction as a lesser included offense of felony murder. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) because felony murder has no mens rea requirement in regard to the death of a victim, whereas reckless homicide has the mens rea of recklessness, reckless homicide is not a lesser included offense of felony murder; and (2) therefore, the trial court did not err in refusing to give the requested instruction.
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