New York Court of Appeals
The People of the State of New York v. Melvin Murray
July 13, 197640 N.Y.2d 327
Summary
The Court held that CPL 60.50 does not require independent proof of the predicate felony in a felony‑murder prosecution and that the evidence presented—corpus delicti, motive, presence, and flight—satisfied the statute’s corroboration requirement; it also held that the trial court erred by not charging manslaughter in the second degree as a lesser‑included offense, reversing the felony‑murder conviction and remanding for a new trial on that and the remaining counts. Justice Jasen dissented, arguing that without corroboration of the underlying felony the felony‑murder conviction cannot stand.