California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Brownlee, C085652 (Cal. App. 2019):
court had no sua sponte duty to provide a clarifying instruction in the absence of evidence to support a finding that the felony was in fact merely incidental to the murder. [Citation.] Thus, unless the evidence supports an inference that the defendant might have intended to murder the victim without having an independent intent to commit the specified felony, there is no duty to include" the bracketed language. (People v. Monterroso (2004) 34 Cal.4th 743, 767.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.