Schad v. Arizona

This case presents two questions: whether a first-degree murder conviction under jury instructions that did not require agreement on whether the defendant was guilty of premeditated murder or felony murder is unconstitutional; and whether the principle recognized in Beck v. Alabama, 447 U. S. 625 (1980), entitles a defendant to instructions on all offenses that are lesser than, and included within, a capital offense as charged. We answer no to each.

I — I

On August 9, 1978, a highway worker discovered the badly decomposed body of 74-year-old Lorimer Grove in the underbrush off U. S. Highway 89,…