State v. Phipps

WHICHARD, Justice.

Defendant appeals his convictions for first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. In a capital trial, the jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of both premeditation and deliberation and the felony murder rule. The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder. The trial court imposed that sentence in addition to a forty-year sentence for the robbery conviction. We conclude that the trial court erred in failing to submit the charge of second-degree murder, but we hold the error to be nonprejudicial in light of the…