State v. Nesbitt

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The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for felony murder, rape, and aggravated burglary arising from an attack on 100-year-old M.S. in her home.On appeal, Appellant argued, among other things, that there was insufficient evidence to support the felony murder conviction because M.S.’s death twenty-one days after the attack did not occur within the res gestate of the underlying felony of rape and because there was no direct causal connection between the rape and M.S.’s death. The Supreme Court held (1) the record supported the jury’s decision that the act causing M.S.’s death occurred within the res gestate of the underlying felony of rape, and the evidence was sufficient to support causation; (2) there was sufficient evidence to support the aggravated burglary conviction; (3) an erroneous statement by the prosecutor during closing argument was harmless; and (4) the judge did not err when he refused to give a proposed race-switching instruction. View "State v. Nesbitt" on Justia Law