SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

State v. Shariff Ingram (A-58/59-07)

Argued May 5, 2008 – Decided July 21, 2008

RIVERA-SOTO, J., writing for a unanimous Court.

This appeal presents three questions for disposition: first, whether, in those instances in which lesser-included offenses are already charged in the indictment, a trial court nevertheless must instruct the jury that accomplices may have a different state of mind than principals and, thus, may be liable only for the lesser-included offense; second, whether the prosecutor misstated the applicability of the statutory affirmative defense to felony murder; and, finally, whether, when a defendant voluntarily absents himself from trial, it is error for the trial court to instruct the jury that the defendant’s absence, standing alone, may be considered evidence of consciousness of guilt.