People v. Harris

Defendant was convicted at the Court of General Sessions for murder in the first degree while engaged in the commission of a felony. (Penal Law, § 1044, subd. 2.) The jury recommended life imprisonment; the court followed the recommendation and imposed sentence accordingly.

The felony to which the homicide has been related is rape; and we address ourselves separately to the questions whether the homicide has been sufficiently established to warrant a conviction for causing the death involved; and whether, in turn, the underlying felony has been sufficiently established to warrant the view of…