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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE
AT JACKSON
November 5, 2009 Session

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BENJAMIN BROWN
Appeal by Permission from the Court of Crim inal Appeals
C riminal Court for Shelby County
N o. 96-13456 C arolyn W ade Blackett, Judge

No. W 2006-02762-SC-R11-CD -Filed M ay 27, 2010
The defendant w as convicted of aggravated child abuse and felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse. The defendant appealed the felony murder conviction, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction. W e granted permission to appeal and address the issue of whether the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offenses of felony murder, which include second degree murder, reckless homicide, and criminally negligent homicide. W e conclude that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury as to these lesser-included offenses, and accordingly, w e reverse the felony murder conviction and remand the case for a new trial on the felony murder count.

Tenn. R. A pp. P. 11; Judgm ent of the C ourt of C rim inal A ppeals R eversed and C ase Remanded to the C rim inal C ourt for Shelby C ounty
SHARON G . LEE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in w hich JANICE M . H OLDER, C.J., CORNELIA A. CLARK, GARY R. W ADE, and W ILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JJ., joined.
W illiam D. M assey and Lorna S. M cClusky, M emphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Benjamin Brown.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney G eneral and Reporter; M ichael E. M oore, Solicitor G eneral;
J. Ross D yer, Senior Counsel; W illiam L. Gibbons, D istrict A ttorney G eneral; and John W heeler Campbell, A ssistant D istrict Attorney G eneral, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
O PINIO N
Factual and Procedural Background
The first marriage of Benjamin Brown (

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Tennessee Law