When will a jury consider whether a defendant directly aided and abetted murder?

The issue before the jury was not whether defendant directly aided and abetted murder, but whether he directly aided and abetted a specified assaultive crime of which murder was a natural and probable consequence. Jurors were expressly told that before they could decide whether defendant was guilty of murder as an aider and abettor, they had to decide whether he was guilty of one of the specified assaultive offenses. "'Jurors are, of course, presumed to follow the instructions given by the court.' [Citation.]" (People v. Murtishaw (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1001, 1044.) They were instructed that to find

Page 25