State v. Smith

I respectfully dissent from the reversal of Smith’s conviction of first-degree murder while committing kidnapping. I read our prior caselaw to recognize these principles, that (1) the legislature has the exclusive authority to define crimes; (2) the legislature has defined the crime of kidnapping broadly, to include confinement or removal that is minimal and that may even be completely incidental to another facilitated offense; (3) the concerns of the court with the potential for prosecutorial abuse, by overcharging kidnapping to obtain undue punishment, cannot be addressed by changing the…