Michael Damien Howell v. State of Indiana

── Michael Damien Howell v. State of Indiana ── Case No.: 22A-PC-01659 Court: Indiana Court of Appeals Date: April 10, 2023 Author: Judge Leanna Weissmann County of Origin: Vanderburgh Category: Criminal Decision: Affirmed Judge Bailey and Judge Brown concur In 2017, Howell was convicted of Level 2 felony voluntary manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of murder. On direct appeal, he argued that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on voluntary manslaughter. But because his counsel did not object to the instruction at trial, Howell was required to show that it constituted fundamental error. Another panel of this Court found that the challenged instruction misstated the law but “the instructions taken as a whole did not mislead the jury.” Howell v. State, 97 N.E.3d 253, 263 (Ind. Ct.