Is the death penalty disproportionate when applied to a defendant convicted of felony murder as an aider and abettor?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, S073205 (Cal. 2015):

Defendant advances two proportionality claims. First, he argues that the death penalty is disproportionate when applied to a defendant convicted of felony murder as an aider and abettor because the statute does not require proof that he acted with a culpable state of mind, permitting him to be executed for an unintentional or accidental killing. Second, he asserts his punishment is disproportionate to his culpability under a Dillon analysis. (People v. Dillon (1983) 34 Cal.3d 441.) His arguments fail.

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