State v. Lackey

*583PHILLIPS, Judge.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to grant his request to charge the jury on the misdemeanor offense of death by vehicle. We agree and a new trial is necessary. Death by vehicle under G.S. 20-141.4(a), which applied when these events occurred but has been revised since then as G.S. 20-141.4(a2), is a lesser included offense of the common law felony of involuntary manslaughter, made punishable by G.S. 14-18. The distinction is that the lesser offense does not depend upon the presence of culpable or criminal negligence, it being enough to convict if death…