Where the jury returns a verdict for voluntary manslaughter, it cannot also find felony murder based upon the same underlying aggravated assault. Sinkfield v. State, 262 Ga. 555 (1992).
In Edge v. State, 261 Ga. 865 (1992), the Georgia Supreme Court adopted the “modified merger rule” which provides that a felony murder conviction is precluded where it prevents a warranted verdict of voluntary manslaughter. The Edge case disapproves the giving of sequential charges which instruct the jury to consider voluntary manslaughter only if they have considered and found the defendant not guilty of malice murder and felony murder. Such instructions limit the jury's full consideration of voluntary manslaughter. The judge does not have to instruct the jury that a finding of passion or provocation will prevent a conviction for felony murder. Terry v. State, 291 Ga. 508 (2012). The jury charge as a whole must ensure that the jury considers whether evidence of provocation and passion might authorize a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. Morgan v. State, 290 Ga. 788 (2012). There can be no harmful Edge violation when the jury convicts on a malice murder charge. Roscoe v. State. 288 Ga. 775 (2011); Cloud v. State, 290 Ga. 193 (2011).