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Somchith v. State

The trial court properly refused to give defendant's requested charge on adultery since he and the murder victim were not married.

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Khamphay Somchith was convicted of malice murder in connection with the death of Gabrielle Allen. He appeals, asserting insufficient evidence and errors in the jury selection process and in the jury instructions. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.1

Construed to support the verdict, the evidence showed that Somchith and the victim, Gabrielle Allen, were romantically involved for four years and had a son, Eric. Allen and Eric moved from Somchith’s residence in November 1997, but Somchith subsequently saw Allen and Eric about once a month. In June, 1998, Somchith stabbed Allen in the chest and, in a separate incident, attacked her new boyfriend with a crowbar. On June 19, 1998, Somchith took a pistol from his father’s house. He met with Allen and her sister Collins, and stated that he would be leaving the area. Allen let him take Eric shopping. Somchith, together with his brother, went shopping with Eric. Somchith’s brother bought some bullets and gave them to Somchith. That evening Somchith, Collins, Allen, and Eric met at the home of Somchith’s friend, Peo. Collins left to run an errand and, at Somchith’s request, Peo also left, but Peo first asked if Somchith had a gun; he said no. Somchith and Allen argued about Allen’s romantic involvement with other people. Somchith then shot her four times: once in the chest, piercing the heart; once into and through the arm, passing into the chest and lung; once downward through the lip and chin; and a contact shot to the right temple. It is not known which wound or wounds caused her death. Allen had raised her hand in a futile attempt to protect herself.

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