People v. Smith

Defendant was charged with and convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317, after he killed the victim with a single gunshot to the head. The trial court denied defendant’s request to instruct the jury on statutory involuntary manslaughter, MCL 750.329. At issue is whether the trial court should have instructed the jury on statutory involuntary manslaughter because it is a necessarily included lesser offense of second-degree murder. We hold that the court correctly denied defendant’s request for the instruction. Statutory involuntary manslaughter is not an “inferior” offense of…