California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Huynh, D060327 (Cal. App. 2012):
Second degree murder is a lesser included offense of first degree murder committed with malice aforethought. (People v. Taylor (2010) 48 Cal.4th 574, 623.) This is so because second degree murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with maliceeither express or impliedbut without premeditation and deliberation. (Ibid.) "Malice will be implied 'when the killing results from an intentional act, the natural consequences of which are dangerous to life, which act was deliberately performed by a person who knows that his conduct endangers the life of another and who acts with conscious disregard for life.' " (Id. at pp. 623-624.) Conversely, malice is not involved in first degree felony-murder.
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