State v. Cooper

I concur in the judgment and join the Court’s opinion except with respect to section V.C. Although I agree with the Court’s determination that the trial court did not commit error in declining to inform the jury during the guilt phase of the potential sentence to be imposed in the event defendant was convicted of felony murder, the basis for my conclusion differs from the primary reasoning advanced by the Court. In my view, the fact that Mejia concerned a “Gerald mental-state determination” not implicated by the case before us, see ante at 375-377, 700 A.2d at 330-331, is not dispositive.…