The court previously issued an unpublished opinion, with a dissent. The court is now publishing the opinion, omitting certain sections.
Defendant Michael Owens appealed his conviction and sentence for first-degree murder. The majority vacated defendant's murder conviction because the trial court failed to sua sponte instruct the jury on passion/provocation as a lesser-included offense of murder. The majority also held that the trial court erred in not severing a charge of aggravated assault of another victim from the trial of the murder offense.
The dissent disagreed and would have rejected defendant's argument that there was clear evidence of passionate provocation. The dissent also discerned no abuse of discretion in the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to sever the aggravated assault charge from the murder charge.