State v. Berry
Annotate this CaseGregory Berry was convicted of first-degree felony murder after striking and killing another motorist during a high-speed getaway. The underlying felony for the conviction was possession of cocaine. At trial, Berry requested lesser included offense instructions for second-degree reckless murder, involuntary manslaughter, and vehicular homicide. Berry's request was denied pursuant to the judicially created felony-murder instruction rule, which requires lesser included offense instructions only when evidence of the underlying felony is weak, inconclusive, or conflicting. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed Berry's conviction and sentence on the felony-murder charge, holding (1) the judicially created felony-murder instruction rule must be abandoned; (2) Kan. Stat. Ann. 22-3414(3) should be applicable to felony murder, and accordingly, instructions on lesser degrees of homicide are proper in felony-murder cases when there is some evidence reasonably justifying a conviction of some lesser included crime beyond a reasonable doubt; and (3) in Berry's case, and using the statutory viewpoint directed by section 22-3414(3), the evidence could reasonably justify a conviction for lesser included crimes. Remanded.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.