Is the evidence sufficient to support a finding of first degree murder based upon the theory of felony murder?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Proctor, 15 Cal.Rptr.2d 340, 4 Cal.4th 499, 842 P.2d 1100 (Cal. 1992):

The evidence also is sufficient to support a finding of first degree murder based upon the theory of felony murder, whether the underlying felony is considered to be rape or burglary. "We have required as part of the felony-murder doctrine that the jury find the perpetrator had the specific intent to commit one of the enumerated felonies, even where that felony is a crime such as rape. [Citations.]" (People v. Hernandez (1988) 47 Cal.3d 315, 346, 253 Cal.Rptr. 199, 763 P.2d 1289.) It also is established that the killing need not occur in the midst of the commission of the felony, so long as that felony is not merely incidental to, or an afterthought to, the killing. (Id., at p. 348, 253 Cal.Rptr. 199, 763 P.2d 1289; see People v. Hayes (1990) 52 Cal.3d 577, 631, 276 Cal.Rptr. 874, 802 P.2d 376.)

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