Is a jury required to agree unanimously as to which theory of guilt the jury accepted in support of a first degree murder verdict?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Scully, 11 Cal.5th 542, 278 Cal.Rptr.3d 792, 486 P.3d 1029 (Cal. 2021):

Defendant contends the trial court erred by failing to require unanimous agreement as to which theory of guilt the jury accepted in support of a first degree murder verdict. As we explained in People v. Sattiewhite (2014) 59 Cal.4th 446, 479, 174 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 328 P.3d 1, premeditated murder and felony murder are not different crimes, but are instead alternate mechanisms of determining liability. Accordingly, "as long as each juror is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant is guilty of murder

[486 P.3d 1067]

as that offense is defined by statute, it need not decide unanimously by which theory he is guilty." ( People v. Santamaria (1994) 8 Cal.4th 903, 918, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 624, 884 P.2d 81 ; see also People v. Potts (2019) 6 Cal.5th 1012, 1048, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 2, 436 P.3d 899.) Defendant offers no reasoned basis for us to reconsider our previously expressed view.

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