The jury need not be unanimous regarding the felony underlying a defendant’s conviction of felony murder. State v. Taylor, 362 N.C. 514 (2008) (the defendant was charged with felony murder, and the jury was instructed disjunctively regarding two armed robberies as possible predicate felonies; the supreme court rejected the defendant’s argument that he was thereby deprived of his right to a unanimous verdict, and held that the two armed robberies were simply alternative ways of establishing the felony element of felony murder); State v. Coleman, 161 N.C. App. 224 (2003) (affirming the defendant’s conviction of felony murder even though “we cannot determine if the jury was unanimous in which felony served as the underlying felony for purposes of the felony murder verdict,” and ruling that “where there are multiple felony convictions which could serve as the underlying felony for purposes of the felony murder conviction, it is in the discretion of the trial court as to which felony will serve as the underlying felony for purposes of sentencing”); State v. Dudley, 151 N.C. App. 711 (2002) (although the jury was instructed disjunctively regarding several possible predicate felonies, the court of appeals affirmed the defendant’s conviction of felony murder; the predicate felonies were alternative ways to establish a single element of felony murder, so the disjunctive instruction did not pose a unanimity problem; but remanding for resentencing because the trial judge did not arrest judgment on any of the predicate felonies). But see State v. McDougall, 308 N.C. 1 (1983) (suggesting that [...]
Faculty Coordinators
