Can a defendant be found guilty of first degree murder without intent if the death of an unintended victim was reasonably foreseeable?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Williams, 16 Cal.4th 635, 66 Cal.Rptr.2d 573, 941 P.2d 752 (Cal. 1997):

14 The trial court's instruction on the "natural and probable consequences" doctrine as an alternative basis for aider and abettor liability advised the jury that defendant could be guilty of first degree murder without intent to kill each victim if the killings were the natural and probable consequence of conduct defendant did intend. We reject defendant's contention that the trial court had to instruct the jury on its own initiative that the death of an unintended victim must be "reasonably foreseeable." (See People v. Roberts (1992) 2 Cal.4th 271, 321-322, 6 Cal.Rptr.2d 276, 826 P.2d 274.)

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