Can a jury rest its first degree murder verdict on the theory that defendant committed a kidnap for ransom?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Ordonez, 226 Cal.App.3d 1207, 277 Cal.Rptr. 382 (Cal. App. 1991):

Nevertheless, on the instructions as given, the jury could have rested its first degree murder verdict on the legally impermissible conclusion that defendant acted as an aider or abettor or a conspirator in the commission of a kidnap for ransom. Since that possibility cannot be excluded, the second degree murder conviction cannot be affirmed on the theory that defendant committed an intentional, but unpremeditated killing. (See People v. Croy (1985) 41 Cal.3d 1, 19, 221 Cal.Rptr. 592, 710 P.2d 392.)

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