Allen v. State

Summary

The court held that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter because evidence that Allen discovered and reacted to his partner's apparent infidelity constituted at least slight evidence of serious provocation. The court further held that the instructional error was not harmless because the State did not show that it was highly probable the error did not contribute to the murder verdict. The court reversed the malice-murder conviction and related felony-murder verdicts, while leaving the remaining counts unaffected subject to possible merger on remand.