Nika v. State

*1276OPINION

By the Court,

Hardesty, J.:

The primary issue in this appeal concerns a jury instruction defining premeditation, commonly referred to as the Kazalyn1 instruction, and our decision in Byford v. State,2 which addressed specific concerns about that instruction. Appellant Avram Nika challenges our subsequent decisions that Byford announced a new rule with prospective affect.3 In considering his argument, we reexamine whether our decision in Byford constituted a clarification of existing law or a change in the law respecting the meaning of the mens rea for first-degree murder. We hold that…