Supreme Court of California

Defendant's conviction of first degree murder under a felony-murder theory that the victim was killed during the commission of a burglary when a stove defendant stole fell off his truck onto the freeway resulting in the death of another driver who tried to avoid hitting it, is reversed and remanded, where: 1) the trial court erred in refusing defendant's requested instruction on the escape rule; 2) there was substantial evidence supporting the instruction because a jury could have concluded that the fatal act occurred when the stove fell off the truck and that defendant had reached a place of temporary safety before the fatal act occurred; and 3) the error was prejudicial under both federal or state law.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/07/2013
• Published 03/07/2013

Judges

• CANTIL-SAKAUYE

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel