Opinion ID: 1122777
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Interpretation of penal statutes.

Text: (5) In ex parte Rosenheim (1890) 83 Cal. 388, 391 [23 P. 372], the court explained that [w]hile it is true, the rule of the common law that penal statutes are to be strictly construed has been abrogated by the code, which provides that `all its provisions are to be construed according to the fair import of their terms, with a view to effect its object and promote justice,' it is also true that the defendant is entitled to the benefit of every reasonable doubt, whether it arise out of a question of fact, or as to the true interpretation of words or the construction of language used in a statute.... The California courts thereafter have adhered to the rule that a reasonable doubt concerning the meaning of a penal statute should be resolved in favor of the defendant. Thus, in Keeler v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 619, 631 [87 Cal. Rptr. 481, 470 P.2d 617], we declared that [i]t is the policy of this state to construe a penal statute as favorably to the defendant as its language and the circumstances of its application may reasonably permit.... In construing a different provision of the same 1978 initiative before us in the present case, People v. Spears (1983) 33 Cal.3d 279, 283 [188 Cal. Rptr. 454, 655 P.2d 1289] reiterated the rule that a defendant is entitled to the benefit of any reasonable doubt as to the construction of a penal law. That rule of construction acquires heightened force in felony-murder cases. Courts and commentators have consistently criticized the felony-murder doctrine as unjust, imposing punishment with little regard for culpability. (See People v. Phillips, supra, 64 Cal.2d 574, 582-583; Fletcher, Reflections on Felony-Murder (1981) 12 Sw.U.L.Rev. 413.) They also question its utility. As one commentator observed, [i]t may be that the rule is unnecessary in almost all cases in which it is applied, that is to say, that conviction in those cases can be predicated on the normal rules as to murder and as to accomplice liability. In the small residuum of cases, there may be substantial question whether the rule reaches a rational result or does not at least distract attention from more relevant criteria. (Fn. omitted.) (Packer, The Case for Revision of the Penal Code (1961) 13 Stan.L.Rev. 252, 259.) (6) In People v. Satchell (1971) 6 Cal.3d 28 [98 Cal. Rptr. 33, 489 P.2d 1361, 50 A.L.R.3d 383], Justice Sullivan summarized the judicial view of the felony-murder rule: In the case of People v. Washington (1965) 62 Cal.2d 777, at page 783 [44 Cal. Rptr. 442, 402 P.2d 130], this court struck the keynote which has guided all our subsequent consideration of cases involving the felony-murder doctrine. Acknowledging the substantial body of legal scholarship which has concluded that that doctrine not only `erodes the relation between criminal liability and moral culpability' but also is usually unnecessary for conviction, we went on to say of it: `Although it is the law in this state (Pen. Code, § 189), it should not be extended beyond any rational function that it is designed to serve.' (Italics added.) [¶] Applying this principle to various concrete factual circumstances, we have sought to insure that the `highly artificial concept' ( People v. Phillips (1966) 64 Cal.2d 574, 582 [51 Cal. Rptr. 225, 414 P.2d 353]) of strict criminal liability incorporate in the felony-murder doctrine be given the narrowest possible application consistent with its ostensible purpose  which is to deter those engaged in felonies from killing negligently or accidentally (see People v. Washington, supra, 62 Cal.2d 777, 781, and authorities there cited). (Pp. 33-34, fn. omitted.) The felony-murder rule in the cited cases served to distinguish among felons, punishing as murderers those who, although intending only some lesser felony, encountered an unintended killing. (3c) The rule in the present case serves a new purpose: to determine which murderers deserve death or life imprisonment without possibility of parole. In this context the cited criticisms acquire renewed strength. To impose a penalty of death or perpetual confinement for a killing, without taking account of whether the defendant intended to kill, is plainly to impose liability regardless of culpability. An intent to kill requirement would still permit such punishment for willful killing during the commission of a felony; to go beyond that would appear to extend the rule  beyond any rational function that it is designed to serve.  ( People v. Satchell, supra, 6 Cal.3d 28, 34.) Rules of construction resolving doubts in favor of the defendant and limiting the application of the felony-murder rule come into play only when the language and purpose of the enactment are uncertain. We have already seen that the language of the 1978 initiative and the purpose of its enactment as explained to the voters indicates, but does not compel, the conclusion that intent to kill is required. In such a setting the use of these rules of construction is appropriate, and serves to reinforce our view that the statute does not permit punishment of an unintentional felony murder by death or life imprisonment without possibility of parole.