Criminal Practice – Felony Murder – Jury Instructions – Lesser-Included Offenses – Underlying Felony

There was no conflict in the evidence that defendant discharged a weapon into occupied property; in addition to witness testimony, physical evidence collected from the scene, and surveillance footage, defendant admitted to firing shots at the victim’s apartment, knowing another person was inside. Since the state presented sufficient evidence to prove all elements of the underlying felony of discharging a weapon into occupied property, the trial court correctly instructed the jury on felony murder but not on premeditated and deliberate first-degree murder, second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.

We find no error in defendant’s conviction of first-degree felony murder.

State v. Faggart (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-104-23, 21 pp.) (Jeffery Carpenter, J.) Appealed from Forsyth County Superior Court (Richard Gottlieb, J.) Mary Carla Babb for the state; Anne Bleyman for defendant. North Carolina Court of Appeals (unpublished)