State v. Payne

OPINION

James M. Dowd, Judge

Kenneth Payne was found guilty by a jury in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis of one count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, and two counts of armed criminal action arising out of the January 2013 shooting of two shopkeepers in St. Louis. Payne appeals asserting two points of error: (1) that the trial court plainly erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter, and (2) that the trial court plainly erred in failing to sua sponte recuse itself because the court allegedly participated…