State v. Ceretti
Annotate this CasePursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and willful injury causing serious injury. Defendant appealed, arguing that attempted murder and willful injury convictions are both included offenses of voluntary manslaughter and, therefore, must merge with the voluntary manslaughter conviction. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that because voluntary manslaughter can be committed without a specific intent to kill, attempted murder and willful injury resulting in serious injury, which must be committed with a specific intent to kill, are not included offenses of voluntary manslaughter. The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals and judgment of the district court, holding that, under the circumstances of this case, the voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder convictions are mutually exclusive because a defendant cannot be convicted of both an attempted homicide and a completed homicide when the convictions are based on the same acts directed against the same victim.
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