State v. Laplante
| Decision Date | 31 May 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 7436,7436 |
| Citation | 117 N.H. 417,374 A.2d 643 |
| Parties | STATE of New Hampshire v. Clyde A. LAPLANTE. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
David H. Souter, Atty. Gen., and Edward A. Haffer, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Kfoury & Williams, Manchester (Joseph Williams, Manchester, orally), for defendant.
The question presented herein is whether a criminal defendant charged with attempted murder, who requests a jury instruction on the "lesser included" offense of attempted manslaughter and is found guilty of that offense, may then appeal his conviction on the grounds that the crime of attempted manslaughter does not exist. The Superior Court (Loughlin, J.) denied the defendant's motion to set aside the verdict and for release, and transferred his exceptions thereto to this court. For the reasons which follow below, we affirm.
The defendant argues that the offense of "attempted manslaughter" is a logical impossibility. He points out that in order to convict a defendant of an attempted crime under RSA 629:1, it must be shown that he acted with a "purpose" that a crime be committed. He contends that manslaughter is by its very nature an "unintentional" killing, and that it is not possible for a defendant to have a purpose to commit an unintentional act.
There are decisions elsewhere which indicate that the crime of attempted manslaughter does exist. See Vogel v. State, 124 Fla. 409, 168 So. 539 (1936); State v. Crutcher, 231 Iowa 418, 1 N.W.2d 195 (1941); R. Perkins, Criminal Law 574-75 (2d ed. 1969); contra, People v. Weeks, 86 Ill.App.2d 480, 230 N.E.2d 12 (1967). While the matter is not free from all doubt in New Hampshire under RSA 630:2 I-a and -b (Supp.1975), we need not decide that question in this case.
At trial, the defendant requested the court to submit the following instruction to the jury: "If you . . . find that the Defendant purposely or knowingly attempted to cause the death of Richard Vitello which would otherwise constitute murder, but that the Defendant at said time, was acting under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance, then the Defendant cannot be found 'guilty' of attempted murder, but may be found 'guilty' of attempted manslaughter. . . ." The court granted the defendant's request and gave the instruction. The jury found the defendant guilty of the lesser- included offense. In a closely related case, wherein a defendant pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter as a lesser-included offense and then sought to reverse his conviction on the grounds presented herein, the New York Court of Appeals state...
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State v. Eldridge
...its decision, the trial court primarily relied on Commonwealth v. Shelley, 477 Mass. 642, 80 N.E.3d 335 (2017), and State v. LaPlante, 117 N.H. 417, 374 A.2d 643 (1977). It found "very compelling" the "notion of the importance of the jury process being a rational one," and concluded that al......
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State v. Thornton
...at 875, does not undermine the defendant's guilty plea. See Downer v. State, 543 A.2d 309, 312 (Del.1988); cf. State v. Laplante, 117 N.H. 417, 418, 374 A.2d 643, 644 (1977) (upholding conviction where defendant requested a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense that was a nonexisten......
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State v. Goodale
...led the trial court, intentionally or unintentionally." 5 C.J.S. Appeal and Error § 745, at 179 (1993) ; see State v. LaPlante , 117 N.H. 417, 418, 374 A.2d 643, 644–45 (1977). In this case, the defendant himself argued that he had shown necessity for the depositions, and cited a case in wh......
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State v. Martin, 7813
...counsel for him. Defendant cannot now assert error on the part of the court based on an inconsistent position. See State v. Laplante, 117 N.H. ---, 374 A.2d 643 (1977). The record before us does not compel a different result from that reached by the trial Exception overruled. ...