Nature of the Case
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Facts
High School students Saeteurn and Sihabouth argued over two girls in an instant message exchange. Saeteurn challenged Sihabouth to an afterschool fight outside a pizzeria the next day. Saeteurn told Sihabouth that he was going to bring his “homies” with him, and threatened to shoot Sihabouth's father if his father tried to stop the fight. Sihabouth called Nim, a member of the Hop Sing gang, for help. D also learned about the fight. D told Tran about the fight. D asked Tran if he “wanted to see someone get shot,” told Tran that there was going to be a fight over a girl, and said his “friend” would shoot if his “friend feels pressured.” Sihabouth showed up for the fight but left after he saw a crowd. Saeteurn did not show up for the fight. D and his friends, Hoong and Che, went to Famous Pizza that day. Nguyen met her boyfriend, Gonzales, outside Famous Pizza the day of the fight. Gonzales and D exchanged fighting words, and Gonzales walked toward D, who got off the trunk of the car on which he had been sitting with Hoong and Che. As Gonzales walked toward D, Gonzales's friend, Treadway, told Gonzales, “I got your back.” Che and Hoong stood alongside D. Che punched Treadway. D swung at Gonzales, and Gonzales swung back. A full-scale brawl was underway, with as many as 25 people fighting. Gonzales's cousin, Hernandez, struck D eight or nine times in the head with her fists, allowing Gonzales to get off the ground and resume fighting D. Treadway's cousin, Bartholomew, also hit D hard in the back of the head soon after. Bartholomew heard D tell Che to “grab the gun.” Hoong pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Treadway in the arm. Che appeared with a gun he had retrieved from a car trunk and pointed it at Gonzales's face and said, “Run now, bitch, run.” Gonzales ran. Che then pointed the gun at Bartholomew and Treadway. When he hesitated rather than shoot, D and Hoong yelled “shoot him, shoot him.’ ” Che shot Treadway dead. Che, D, and Hoong then fled together in a car. D was charged with murder with gang enhancement and firearm use allegations. P claimed D was guilty of murder because he directly aided and abetted Che in the shooting death of Treadway. P also claimed that D was guilty of murder because he aided and abetted Che in the target offense of assault or of disturbing the peace, the natural and probable consequence of which was murder. The court instructed in part that the jury had to decide whether a reasonable person in D's position would have known that the commission of the murder was a natural and probable consequence of the commission of either target offense. The jury found D guilty of first-degree murder and the gang and firearm use allegations true. The Court of Appeal reversed; the trial court erred in failing to instruct sua sponte that the jury must determine not only that the murder was a natural and probable consequence of the target crime, but also that the perpetrator's willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation were natural and probable consequences. P appealed.
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