State v. Murphy

I am constrained to dissent from the majority opinion since it fails to conform to time-honored principles of appellate review. This Court has previously stated in literally scores of cases that it will not address an issue raised for the first time on appeal.1 By addressing issues never raised by the parties (neither below nor on appeal), the Court not only effectively tries the cases for the litigants, but it also circumvents any opportunity on the part of the trial court to even address what ultimately become the dispositive issues. It is *404my opinion that to so rule is totally foreign to…