Opinion ID: 2638434
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Robbery Was Incidental to the Murder

Text: Defendant next argues the robbery of the victim was incidental to the murder, requiring that we strike the felony-murder special-circumstance finding. Although we have explained that a felony that is merely incidental to the murder cannot serve as the basis for a felony-murder special circumstance ( People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 61, 164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468), [20] the facts of this case show robbery was the actors' primary motivation, and the murder was committed to facilitate that crime, i.e., to eliminate the sole witness. Where a criminal has an independent purpose for committing a felony, the Green rule is inapplicable. ( People v. Wright (1990) 52 Cal.3d 367, 417, 276 Cal.Rptr. 731, 802 P.2d 221.) We thus reject the contention that the robbery was incidental to the murder.