State v. Townsend

— Petitioner seeks review of a Court of Appeals decision affirming his first degree murder conviction and rejecting his contention that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel when he failed to object to the oral instructions to the jury during voir dire that the present charges did not involve the death penalty. Additionally, the petitioner argues that the court erred when it found sufficient evidence to support premeditation. We hold that it is error to inform the jury during voir dire in a noncapital case that the case is not a death penalty case. However, under the…