[Download] "State Missouri v. Charles Beal" by Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Missouri v. Charles Beal
- Author : Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc
- Release Date : January 14, 1971
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Defendant, along with other persons, was charged with murder in the first degree. Tried separately, he was found guilty by the jury which assessed his punishment at death. The case was tried by the state on the basis of the so-called felony-murder doctrine under § 559.010, V.A.M.S., which provides that every homicide committed in the perpetration of certain offenses, including robbery, shall be murder in the first degree. We affirm. Various alleged trial errors are asserted by defendant on appeal, but the principal questions presented for decision are these: (1) Was the indictment sufficient to charge defendant under the felony-murder doctrine and does that doctrine apply when persons who have just committed a robbery are fleeing from the police and their getaway car strikes another automobile resulting in death of an occupant thereof? (2) When the prosecutor, before trial, offers to reduce the charge from first degree to second degree murder (a non-capital offense) if defendant pleads guilty, is it a violation of defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights thereafter to require defendant to risk the death penalty on a first degree murder charge in order to avail himself of the opportunity to plead not guilty and to seek by trial to establish his innocence? (3) Is due process violated by a jury trial in which, without specific standards for assessing punishment, the jury determines both guilt and punishment in a single trial?