Publication Date
3-1993
Document Type
Casenote
Abstract
In Edge v. State, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that a verdict convicting a defendant of voluntary manslaughter and felony murder based in the underlying felony of aggravated assault was improper. The court reasoned that because the jury found Edge guilty of voluntary manslaughter, malice did not exist and therefore, could not be transferred to support a felony murder conviction. Regrettably, the supreme court failed to adopt the merger rule. However, the court adopted a modified merger rule that precludes a conviction for felony murder when a conviction would prevent the jury from an otherwise proper finding of voluntary manslaughter.
Recommended Citation
Mark Kenneth Delegal, Edge v. State: The Modified Merger Rule Comes Up Short, 44 Mercer L. Rev. 697 (1993).