State v. Pennington

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

POLLOCK, J.

A jury found defendant, Frank Pennington, guilty of capital murder, felony murder, and possession of a firearm with the intent to use it unlawfully. He appealed the capital conviction as of right. R. 2:2-l(a)(3). As the State concedes, the trial court failed to instruct the jury that defendant was not guilty of capital murder if he knowingly or purposely caused serious bodily injury that resulted in death, as distinguished from knowingly or purposely causing the death of the victim. That failure contravenes our1 subsequent decision in State…