State v. Lee Funderburg (074760), 137 A.3d 441

Funderburg and Andrews had a prior romantic relationship and shared parenting of their young son; Andrews later dated Parham, creating tension between Funderburg and Parham.
On Feb 3, 2009, during a dispute when Andrews came to pick up the child, Parham chased Funderburg attempting to retrieve car keys; eyewitnesses reported Funderburg brandished a knife during or before the chase.
After the chase ended, a physical confrontation occurred beside Andrews’s car; Parham was stabbed, suffered life-threatening chest wounds, and survived after surgery.
Funderburg was indicted for first-degree attempted murder, several counts of aggravated assault, and weapons offenses; at trial the defense argued fear/self-defense and accidental stabbing during a struggle for the knife.
Neither party requested an attempted passion/provocation manslaughter instruction; the trial court did not give one sua sponte; the jury convicted on all counts and Funderburg was sentenced to an aggregate 13-year term.
The Appellate Division reversed for a new trial, finding omission of the manslaughter instruction erroneous; the State appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by not sua sponte charging attempted passion/provocation manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder	State: No error; evidence did not clearly indicate adequacy of provocation or lack of cooling-off time, so no sua sponte duty	Funderburg: Trial judge must instruct sua sponte when record clearly indicates adequate provocation and no cooling-off time supporting manslaughter	Court: No error; evidence did not clearly indicate the objective elements (adequate provocation), so no sua sponte instruction required

State v. Choice, 98 N.J. 295 (1985) (trial court not required to sift record for every conceivable lesser charge)
State v. Robinson, 136 N.J. 476 (1994) (recognizing attempted passion/provocation manslaughter as cognizable under Title 2C)
State v. Mauricio, 117 N.J. 402 (1980) (four-element framework for passion/provocation manslaughter)
State v. Jenkins, 178 N.J. 347 (2004) (plain-error standard and duty to instruct when facts clearly indicate lesser-included offense)
State v. Denofa, 187 N.J. 24 (2006) (lesser-included instruction required only when evidence "jumps off the page")
State v. Crisantos, 102 N.J. 265 (1986) (words alone generally do not constitute adequate provocation)
State v. Powell, 84 N.J. 305 (1980) (trial court has duty to charge applicable law when record supports it)