Dakota County Anderson, J. ConState of Minnesota v. Gabriel Alfonso Sanchez Cruz

Summary

The court upheld Cruz's first-degree felony-murder conviction, concluding that the district court properly precluded his entrapment defense, that the evidence established intentional killing beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the requested lesser-included-offense instructions were unwarranted and nonprejudicial. The court held that entering convictions for both first-degree felony murder and the lesser-included offense of second-degree intentional murder was unlawful. It therefore reversed in part and remanded for vacation of the second-degree murder conviction.