What are the requirements for a jury to find a defendant guilty of a felony based special circumstance in a kidnapping-murder case?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Rountree, S048543 (Cal. 2013):

The felony-based special circumstances do not require that the defendant intend to kill. It is sufficient if the defendant is the actual killer or either intends to kill or "with reckless indifference to human life and as a major participant, aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, solicits, requests, or assists in the commission" of the felony. ( 190.2, subd. (d); see People v. Estrada (1995) 11 Cal.4th 568, 575.) Additionally, for the special circumstance to apply, the felony must not be merely incidental to the murder. "[I]f the felony is merely incidental to achieving the murder the murder being the defendant's primary purpose

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then the special circumstance is not present, but if the defendant has an 'independent felonious purpose' (such as burglary or robbery) and commits the murder to advance that independent purpose, the special circumstance is present." (People v. Navarette (2003) 30 Cal.4th 458, 505.)

The court instructed the jury on these requirements. Regarding the point that the robbery must not be incidental to the murder, the court instructed that the jury had to find the "murder was committed in order to carry out or advance the commission of the crime of robbery or to facilitate the escape therefrom or to avoid detection. In other words, the special circumstance referred to in these instructions is not established if the robbery was merely incidental to the commission of the murder." The court gave a comparable instruction regarding the kidnapping-murder special circumstance. (See CALJIC No. 8.81.17; People v. Stanley (2006) 39 Cal.4th 913, 956-957.) These instructions were sufficient. There are no additional legal requirements regarding whether a given killing might be considered to be accidental or not.

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