## Facts

- William Henderson believed he and others had been robbed of drugs and money and went to an apartment where he thought the thieves lived.
- Henderson forcibly entered the apartment and confronted a couple in an upstairs bedroom, demanding information.
- A fight broke out; Henderson punched the male victim, and the victim’s girlfriend struck Henderson with a bottle.
- Henderson and his companions fled, fearing police involvement.
- At a nearby apartment, Henderson obtained a kitchen knife and stated he was “going to kill” the male victim; he later claimed he intended only to hurt him.
- Henderson returned to the apartment, struck the victim with a bottle, and fatally stabbed him in the back.
- In a first trial, Henderson was acquitted of intentional murder but convicted of first-degree manslaughter and other offenses; the conviction was reversed due to erroneous dismissal of a sworn juror.
- After reindictment and a second trial, Henderson was convicted of felony murder and related crimes; the intermediate appellate court affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether burglary committed with intent to assault a particular victim may serve as the predicate felony for felony murder when the assault culminates in the homicide.
2. Whether using burglary-with-intent-to-assault as the predicate for felony murder improperly merges the predicate felony with the homicide.
3. Whether retrial and conviction for felony murder after an acquittal of intentional murder violates double jeopardy or issue-preclusion principles.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the felony-murder conviction.
- Burglary with intent to commit an assault is a statutorily enumerated predicate felony for felony murder, even if the intended assault is the homicidal act.
- No merger limitation barred use of burglary as the predicate because burglary is complete upon unlawful entry with intent to commit a crime.
- Retrial for felony murder after an intentional-murder acquittal was permissible because the offenses have different elements and the earlier verdict did not necessarily decide facts essential to felony murder.
- The evidence was legally sufficient to support that Henderson unlawfully entered with intent to assault and caused death in the course of and in furtherance of the burglary.

## Legal Principles

- Under New York’s felony-murder statute, a death caused in the course of and in furtherance of an enumerated felony (including burglary) supports second-degree felony-murder liability.
- Burglary is completed upon unlawful entry (or remaining) with intent to commit a crime therein; the intended crime may be assault.
- Courts will not impose a categorical merger bar where the legislature has enumerated the predicate felony and has not limited burglary by the nature of the intended crime.
- Double jeopardy does not bar retrial for an offense with distinct statutory elements, and issue preclusion applies only if the prior acquittal necessarily decided a fact required for the later prosecution.

## Conclusion

The court held that burglary based on an intent to assault may serve as a felony-murder predicate despite the assault also constituting the homicidal conduct, and it further held that a prior acquittal of intentional murder did not preclude a later felony-murder conviction after reversal for trial error.


People v. Henderson, 25 N.Y.3d 534, 35 N.E.3d 840 (N.Y. 2015)