State v. Young

495 P.3d 1189 (2021)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D and Talley were friends. Talley was a friend of D's three roommates, Desiree Guinan, Clay Taylor, and Blayne Rankin. D and Talley regularly spent time together. Talley arrived at D's house shortly after 11:00 p.m. for a planned visit. D and two of his roommates, Guinan and Taylor, were home. The third roommate, Rankin, went to work at 5:00 p.m. D, Taylor, and Rankin had been using methamphetamine together. D and Talley were texting and calling each other shortly before Talley arrived. Just minutes before he arrived, Talley sent a text message stating, 'Damn, that Dave dude [referring to himself, Dave Talley] is annoying. Smack him if you gotta.' Talley arrived and entered through an outside door that opened directly into D's bedroom. D was momentarily startled, and said, 'Holy shit!' D was holding a CO2 BB gun. Talley jokingly asked, 'What are you gonna do? Shoot me?' D responded, 'Maybe if I had some CO2,' and threw the BB gun onto his bed. Taylor, who was in the living room, and D and Talley then went into the living room where Taylor was hanging a painting and Guinan was folding laundry. Taylor had spent part of the afternoon teaching Rankin, who had just purchased a handgun, how to load, unload, and care for the gun. The gun was still in the living room. Taylor picked up the gun, unloaded a live round, which fell to the floor, and handed the gun to D. D testified he was 'under the impression' that Taylor had not only ejected the single bullet in the chamber but had removed the magazine as well. D and Talley continued to joke around. They had joked around this way before with a gun that was not loaded. Both of them were laughing. D testified that believing the gun was not loaded, he pointed it at Talley, bounced the gun up and down in his hand, and jokingly said, 'Oh now, I might shoot you.' D testified that he pulled the trigger, expecting a click, but got a bang. D admitted pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, but he believed the gun was not loaded, that he was joking around, and that he did not want Talley to die. Taylor and Guinan were scared. Taylor took the gun and put it in the backseat of Guinan's vehicle. Guinan then drove Taylor to meet his mom at 'the Xerox.' On her way back to the house, Guinan called D and they made plans to say that there had been a home invasion. Police were at the house when Guinan returned. D and Guinan initially told police the home invasion story, but quickly admitted it was a lie. The court instructed the jury on the elements of second-degree murder pursuant but refused D's involuntary manslaughter instruction. D had argued (1) that D did not intend to either fire the gun or to kill Talley; and (2) that D's conduct was misdemeanor negligent use of a firearm, thereby meeting both the mens rea and conduct requirements for involuntary manslaughter. D was convicted of second-degree murder. D appealed.