State v. Lilley

Defendant contends that the court’s failure to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter constitutes prejudicial error.

In State v. Wenrich, 251 N.C. 460, 111 S.E. 2d 582, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that where there is evidence tending ,to show the commission of a lesser offense, the court, of its own motion, should submit such offense to the jury for its own determination. G.S. 15-170 provides that a person may be convicted of the charge in the indictment or of a less degree of the same crime.

“The necessity for instructing the jury as to an included crime of lesser degree than…