People v. Howard

34 Cal.4th 1129 (2005)

Facts

D was driving a Chevrolet Tahoe (a sport utility vehicle) without a rear license plate, and an officer signaled him to pull over. D stopped on the side of the road, and when the officers got out of their car, D restarted the engine and sped to a nearby freeway. The officers gave chase at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour and radioed for assistance. D left the freeway and drove onto a surface street, turning off his car's headlights. He ran two stop signs and a red light, and he drove on the wrong side of the road. His speed was 15 to 20 miles over the posted speed limit of 50 miles per hour. At some point, he made a sharp turn onto a small dirt road and escaped. The car was again picked up, and the chase was resumed at more than 80 miles per hour. D ran a stop sign, and a traffic light and the car's headlights were again turned off heading toward downtown Fresno. Officer Arcelus gave up the pursuit, fearing that the high-speed chase might cause an accident. About a minute after Officer Arcelus stopped chasing the Tahoe, he saw it run a red-light half a mile ahead of him and collide with a car driven by Jeanette Rodriguez. Rodriguez was killed and her husband, a passenger in the car, was seriously injured. It turned out that the Tahoe D was driving had been stolen earlier that day. Defendant, who was also injured in the crash, was arrested and charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187). Laurie Bennett, D's passenger during the chase testified that five or six times during the chase she had begged D to let her get out of the car and that D had run a red light at the intersection where the fatal accident occurred. The Tahoe was traveling over 80 miles per hour, and Rodriguez's car was traveling close to the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour. D had a high amount of methamphetamine in his bloodstream at the time of the accident. D also had marijuana in his bloodstream, but not enough to be under the influence. Victim Rodriguez's bloodstream contained morphine (a metabolite of heroin) and benzoyleconine (a metabolite of cocaine). Based on this evidence Rodriguez was under the influence of heroin and possibly cocaine when the accident occurred. D admitted stealing the Tahoe and fleeing from the Highway Patrol officers. He did so because his probation officer had told him he would go to prison if he was again caught in a stolen car. The jury was instructed that violation of California Vehicle Code section 2800.2, was a felony inherently dangerous to human life, is anyone who kills during the commission is guilty of the crime of murder in violation of Section 187 of the Penal Code. The trial court did not instruct the jury that malice is an element of murder or that the jury could convict defendant if it found that he acted with express or implied malice when he killed victim Rodriguez. D argued that he did not violate section 2800.2 because he did not drive with willful and wanton disregard for life or property; that even if D violated section 2800.2 while fleeing from the officers he was not doing so when the accident occurred, because by then the officers were no longer chasing him; and that D might not have caused the accident because there was a reasonable doubt that he ran a red light at the time of the incident. D was convicted and appealed. The Court of Appeal affirmed. It rejected D's contention that he could not be convicted under the second-degree felony-murder rule because section 2800.2 is not an inherently dangerous felony.