CALCRIM Erroneously Fails To Require That The Defendant “Personally Killed” The Victim
February 13th, 2023
The CALCRIM introduction to its felony murder instructions summarizes the impact of SB 1437 as follows: Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) substantially changed accomplice liability for felony murder. Malice may no longer be imputed simply from participation in a designated crime. (Pen. Code, § 188(a)(3).) If a defendant participated in the commission […]
Tags: CC 540A, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 703, CC 721, CC 722, CC 730, CC 731, CC 732, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, SB 1437, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
CALCRIM Erroneously Fails To Require That The Defendant “Personally Killed” The Victim
January 16th, 2023
The CALCRIM introduction to its felony murder instructions summarizes the impact of SB 1437 as follows: Senate Bill No. 1437 (2017–2018 Reg. Sess.) substantially changed accomplice liability for felony murder. Malice may no longer be imputed simply from participation in a designated crime. (Pen. Code, § 188(a)(3).) If a defendant participated in the commission […]
Tags: CC 540A, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 703, CC 721, CC 722, CC 730, CC 731, CC 732, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, SB 1437, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
Felony Murder Special Circumstance: “Actual Killer” Determination — CALCRIM 703 Misstates the Burden of Proof
January 28th, 2021
California law and the federal constitution require a finding of one of the following as an essential element of the felony murder special circumstance enumerated in Penal Code § 190.2(a)(17): The defendant was the actual killer of the victim; or The defendant acted with intent to kill; or The defendant aided and abetted the murder […]
Tags: Apprendi, CC 3426, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 700, CC 702, CC 703, CC 730, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, Sample Instructions, Special Circumstances
Felony Murder Special Circumstance: Knowledge of Reckless Indifference — Must Precede Act of Aiding and Abetting
December 21st, 2020
PC 190.2 (d) provides that, “for the purposes of those special circumstances based on the enumerated felonies in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a), which include robbery and burglary, an aider and abettor must have been a “major participant” and have acted “with reckless indifference to human life…’.” (People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522, 609.) […]
Tags: CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 625, CC 703, CC 730, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, Mens Rea: Knowledge, Mental Impairment, Sample Instructions, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
CALCRIM 730 Omits The Required Tison/Enmund Elements
October 5th, 2020
Under Enmund v. Florida (1982) 458 U.S. 782, 797 the federal Constitution requires an aider and abettor to capital murder to have the intent to kill, and California’s death penalty law permits the jury to find the felony-murder special-circumstance allegation true without finding an intent to kill. But, in Tison v. Arizona (1987) 481 U.S. […]
Tags: CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 703, CC 730, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
Felony Murder Special Circumstance: Knowledge Elements May Be Negated by Mental Impairment
September 17th, 2020
PC 190.2 (d) provides that, “for the purposes of those special circumstances based on the enumerated felonies in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a), which include robbery and burglary, an aider and abettor must have been a “major participant” and have acted “with reckless indifference to human life…’.” (People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522, 609.) […]
Tags: CC 3428, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 703, CC 730, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, Mens Rea: Knowledge, Mental Impairment, Sample Instructions, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
Felony Murder Special Circumstance: Knowledge Elements May Be Negated by Intoxication
September 12th, 2020
PC 190.2 (d) provides that, “for the purposes of those special circumstances based on the enumerated felonies in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a), which include robbery and burglary, an aider and abettor must have been a “major participant” and have acted “with reckless indifference to human life…’.” (People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522, 609.) […]
Tags: CC 3426, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 625, CC 703, CC 730, Felony Murder, Mens Rea: Knowledge, Mental Impairment, Sample Instructions, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
Felony Murder: Reckless Indifference” for Tison Finding Must Not Be Based On Defendant’s Actions After The Crime
September 3rd, 2019
In re Taylor (2019) 34 Cal. App. 5th 543 held that given the lack of evidence that defendant planned anything more dangerous than a garden-variety armed robbery, reckless disregard to the risk to human life, for purposes of the felony murder special circumstance under PC 190.2 (d), was not established by defendant’s actions after the […]
Tags: CC 540A, CC 540B, CC 540C, CC 702, CC 703, CC 730, CC 731, CC 732, Felony Murder, Felony Murder Special Circumstance, Special Circumstances, Tison/Banks
No Causation Instruction In Single Perpetrator Felony Murder Case
May 1st, 2014
The causation instruction in CC 240 should not be used in single-perpetrator felony murder cases. CC 730 correctly specifies that felony murder encompasses a far wider range of individual culpability than other murders. (People v. Huynh (2012) 212 Cal. App. 4th 285, 310-311.)
Tags: CC 240, CC 730, Felony Murder