Defendant Margie Jones was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, MCLA 750.317; MSA 28.549, and appeals. She raises several issues before this Court, one of which necessitates reversal of her conviction.
The incident which precipitated the charges against defendant took place on August 17, 1973. Defendant and the deceased, William Smith, were present in the apartment they had been sharing.
An argument ensued, the cause of which was *603 disputed at trial. According to the testimony of defendant, who was alone with the deceаsed at the time of his injury, Mr. Smith became enraged and began beating her because she would not give him a portion of the rеnt. He reached for a knife in the course of the beating. Defendant maintained that she grabbed the deceased’s wrists tо prevent him from stabbing her, they tussled and both of them tripped and fell. When defendant regained her feet she discovered the deceased with the knife protruding from his chest. He subsequently died from the knife wound.
Defendant’s theory of the case was that the deceased had been accidentally wounded when they fell to the floor. The prosecution argued that defendant had intentionally stabbed Smith in the course of the fight.
The trial court instructed the jury on second-degree murder and on manslaughter.
1
The manslaughter instruction was limited to voluntary manslaughter,
i.e.,
an intentional killing committed under sufficient provocation to negate a finding of malice.
2
People v Townes,
In
People v Ora Jones, 395
Mich 379;
"Appellant contends that confronted with a manslaughter instruction expressly limitеd to only the voluntary type the jury was precluded from finding manslaughter based on defendant’s theory of the facts.
"We agree.
"The prosеcutor claimed intentional shooting, the defendant maintained it was accidental. The jury was not obliged to accеpt either theory but could have concluded that the killing was the result of criminal negligence, e.g., involuntary manslaughter. Had the judge not instructed at all on manslaughter, there would be no reversible error, because no request for instruction on manslaughter was made. See People v Henry, 395 Mich 367; 236 NW2d 489 (1975).
"Having undertaken to do so, however, it was reversible error to give a misleading instruction which recognized only the prosecution’s theory but not the defendant’s.”395 Mich at 393 .
The
Jones
decision is consistent with earlier opinions from this Court in which it was held that in а homicide case where accident is argued any manslaughter instruction must distinguish between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
People v Warren,
In the present case the failure to give an instruction on involuntary manslaughter may have *605 substantially affected the verdict. The facts of the case could reasonably have supported a finding of involuntary manslaughter. However, this option was рrecluded from the jury by the court’s incomplete instruction. We feel that defendant is entitled to a new trial before a properly instructed jury.
This panel questions the retroactive application of the
Jones
decision. See the concurring opinion in
People v Harrison,
Accordingly, we reverse the conviction of second-degree murder and remand for entry of judgment of conviction of the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter and for resentencing. If, however, the proseсuting attorney is persuaded that the ends of justice would be better served, upon notification to the trial court before resentencing the trial court should vacate the judgment of conviction and grant a new trial on a charge that the dеfendant committed the crime of second-degree murder.
People v Jenkins,
Defendant raised one further issue that should be discussed to avоid recurrence on remand. Prior to trial the prosecution informed the defense that no statements or admissions had bеen made by defendant to the police. During the prosecution’s rebuttal a police officer was called as a witness and allowed, over defendant’s objection, to relate the substance of a statement made by defendаnt shortly after the incident. The statement contradicted her trial testimony. Defendant argues that the statement could not bе used as impeaching *606 evidence since its voluntariness had not been previously determined at a Walker 3 hearing.
In
Harris v New York,
"It does not follow from Miranda that evidence inadmissible against an accused in the prosecution’s case in chief is barred for all purposes, provided of course that the trustworthiness of the evidence satisñes legal standards.”401 US at 224 . (Emphasis added.)
Implicit from the
Harris
Court’s language is the requirement that an otherwise inadmissible statement first be found to have been voluntarily given before it can be used to impeach.
People v Reed,
There was no review of the voluntariness of the statement in the present case. The prosecution seeks to avoid this result by arguing that a finding of voluntariness under Harris is only required if the proposed evidence is a confession.
Defendant’s statement to the police amounted to a denial of presence in the apartment at the time of Smith’s injury. On its face the statement was exсulpatory, but in the context of its use at trial it became inculpatory. Defendant’s credibility was the crucial issue of the trial, and the introduction of this statement may have cast serious doubt upon her truthfulness.
*607 However, we do not believe that Harris or Reed allows us to impose the necessity of a formal Walker hearing on a statement brought forth only for imрeachment purposes on rebuttal. The normal adversarial questions of opposing counsel should very well determine whether such a statement was voluntarily made.
Reversed and remanded.
Notes
MCLA 750.321; MSA 28.553.
The record is unclear as to whether defendant actually requestеd a manslaughter instruction. The trial transcript reveals no discussion of a request. In preparation of this opinion, howеver, it was discovered that the defendant had written out a request for an instruction on voluntary manslaughter. A review of the trial court docket card does not show that the written request was ever filed during the trial. The court’s actual instruction differed from the language of the written request. For the purposes of this appeal we are assuming that no formal request was made.
People v Walker, (On Rehearing),
Miranda v Arizona,