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North Carolina v. Thomas11/19/1992
ration or attempted perpetration of a felony. State v. Evangelista, 319 N.C. 152, 157, 353 S.E.2d 375, 380 (1987). The felony murder rule, as set out in N.C.G.S. § 14-17, does not establish a presumption of premeditation and deliberation in violation of due process and equal protection because premeditation and deliberation are not elements of felony murder, and thus the statute involves no presumption of such. State v. Wall, 304 N.C. 609, 613, 286 S.E.2d 68, 71 (1982). Under the felony murder rule, a homicide that is committed in the perpetration of one of the statutorily specified felonies is first-degree murder. A homicide committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a sexual offense is murder in the first degree, as set out in N.C.G.S. § 14-17, and because premeditation and deliberation are not elements of felony murder, the State is not relieved from proving criminal mens rea.
For the reasons stated above, we find that defendant received a fair trial, free of prejudicial error.
NO ERROR.
Disposition
NO ERROR.
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