Opinion ID: 844212
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Instruction on Felony Murder and the Jury's Finding of Felony Murder

Text: The information charged defendant with murder with malice aforethought in violation of Penal Code section 187, subdivision (a). But the jury was instructed with first degree felony murder and convicted defendant of that crime. Defendant, arguing that under our decision in People v. Dillon (1983) 34 Cal.3d 441 [194 Cal.Rptr. 390, 668 P.2d 697], murder with malice aforethought and felony murder are separate offenses, contends the failure to charge him with felony murder deprived the court of jurisdiction to try him on that theory. He also claims allowing the jury to convict him of an uncharged crime violated his rights to due process, a jury determination of each element of the charged crime, adequate notice of the charges, and a fair and reliable guilt trial. (16) As defendant recognizes, we have rejected similar claims on many occasions. We have explained that the statement in the plurality opinion in People v. Dillon, supra, 34 Cal.3d at page 476, footnote 23, that felony murder and murder with express or implied malice are not the `same' crimes, means only that the two forms of murder have different elements even though there is but a single statutory offense of murder. (See People v. Moore (2011) 51 Cal.4th 386, 412-413 [121 Cal.Rptr.3d 280, 247 P.3d 515]; People v. Carpenter (1997) 15 Cal.4th 312, 394-395 [63 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 935 P.2d 708]; People v. Pride (1992) 3 Cal.4th 195, 249 [10 Cal.Rptr.2d 636, 833 P.2d 643].) We have further explained that an accusatory pleading charging murder need not specify the theory of murder upon which the prosecution intends to rely. ( People v. Hughes (2002) 27 Cal.4th 287, 369 [116 Cal.Rptr.2d 401, 39 P.3d 432].) We thus have consistently rejected the argument that a defendant charged only with a violation of Penal Code section 187, subdivision (a) may not be convicted of first degree murder, including first degree felony murder. (E.g., People v. Morgan (2007) 42 Cal.4th 593, 616-617 [67 Cal.Rptr.3d 753, 170 P.3d 129]; Hughes, at pp. 369-370.) A pleading referring only to Penal Code section 187, subdivision (a) provides adequate notice that the defendant might be convicted of first degree murder on a felony-murder theory. ( People v. Kipp (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1100, 1131 [113 Cal.Rptr.2d 27, 33 P.3d 450].) Further, a special circumstance allegation that a defendant murdered the victim during the course of a robbery provides more than adequate notice that the prosecution will be pursuing a felony-murder theory of first degree murder. ( People v. Moore, supra, 51 Cal.4th at p. 413.) Here, the information filed against defendant alleged the special circumstance of murder during the commission of a robbery. (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17).) In addition, `generally the accused will receive adequate notice of the prosecution's theory of the case from the testimony presented at the preliminary hearing ....' ( People v. Hughes, supra, 27 Cal.4th at pp. 369-370.) In this case, the prosecutor at the preliminary hearing established probable cause that the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery, and the case was tried on the theory that the murder was committed during the course of a robbery. Defendant thus had ample notice the prosecution was proceeding on a theory of felony murder. (17) Defendant cites the admonition in Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) 530 U.S. 466, 476 [147 L.Ed.2d 435, 120 S.Ct. 2348] that `any fact (other than [a] prior conviction) that increases the maximum penalty for a crime must be charged in an indictment, submitted to a jury, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.' (Italics added.) But Apprendi and its progeny address the Sixth Amendment right to a jury determination of facts used in sentencing beyond the elements of the charged offenses. ( People v. Moore, supra, 51 Cal.4th at p. 413.) These cases do not create new notice requirements for alternative theories of a substantive offense such as a theory of first degree murder.