Supreme Court of California

In an appeal of a felony murder conviction, judgment of lower court is reversed and remanded where: 1) the second degree felony-murder rule is not unconstitutional as it is based on statute; 2) when the underlying felony in a felon-murder case is assaultive in nature, the felony merges with the homicide and cannot be the basis of a felony-murder instruction, and thus the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the second degree felony-murder rule; and 3) the error in instructing the jury on felony murder was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, but another evidentiary error occurred. Further proceedings are necessary to determine whether the two errors in combination were prejudicial.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/30/2009
• Published 03/30/2009

Judges

• CHIN, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Mark D. Greenberg, Oakland, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant., Dallas Sacher for Sixth District Appellate Program as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson and Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Mary Jo Graves and Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorneys General, John G. McLean, Janet Neeley, Stephen G. Herndon, Melissa Lipon and Paul E. O'Connor, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.