State v. Miller
State v. Miller
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The self-represented defendant, Khari Miller, appeals from the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence. On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court improperly found that felony murder in violation of General Statutes § 53a-54c is a class A felony, rather than an unclassified felony.
We thoroughly have reviewed the record and briefs in this case and have considered the relevant legal principles. Contrary to the defendant’s claim that felony murder is appropriately characterized as an unclassified felony, our case law makes clear that “felony murder is simply one form of the crime of murder.” State v. Cross, 127 Conn. App. 718, 721, 14 A.3d 1082, cert. denied, 301 Conn. 918, 21 A.3d 464 (2011); see also State v. John, 210 Conn. 652, 696, 557 A.2d 93 (in enacting felony murder statute, “the legislature intended to specify another manner in which the crime of murder could be committed, rather than create a new crime”), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 824, 110 S. Ct. 84, 107 L. Ed. 2d 50 (1989).
The judgment is affirmed.
The defendant was convicted of felony murder in violation of § 53a-54c, robbery in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-134 (a) (2), and conspiracy to commit robbery in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-134 (a) (2) and 53a-48. The court sentenced the defendant to forty-five years of incarceration on the felony murder count and fifteen years of incarceration on each of the other counts, to run concurrently, for a total effective sentence of forty-five years imprisonment, consecutive to any sentence in any other case. In his motion to correct and again on appeal, the defendant has asserted that felony murder is an unclassified felony, or alternatively, a class A felony other than murder, for which a forty-five year sentence is not statutorily authorized.
Indeed, as the court recognized in denying the defendant’s motion to correct, both § 53a-54c, the felony murder statute, and § 53a-54a, the intentional murder statute, begin by stating: “[A] person is guilty of murder when . . . .” (Emphasis added).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. KHARI MILLER
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published