People v. Ray

Defendant was charged with first-degree murder* 1 and found guilty of manslaughter. 2 On a second count, he was charged with assault with intent to murder, 3 and found guilty of felonious assault. 4 Defendant was sentenced to 10 to 15 years imprisonment on the manslaughter conviction and 2 to 4 years on the felonious assault conviction. He appeals as of right.

Defendant first contends that there was no evidence of either premeditation or malice here, and thus it was error for the trial judge to instruct the jury on both first and second-degree murder. If these contentions are correct, there…