Does a jury have to consider felony murder or premeditated murder before it considers the lesser included offense of second degree murder?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Cash, 122 Cal.Rptr.2d 545, 28 Cal.4th 703, 50 P.3d 332 (Cal. 2002):
We find no error. Nothing in the trial court's instruction required the jury to consider felony murder or premeditated murder before it considered the lesser included offense of second degree murder. The court also instructed the jury that
[122 Cal.Rptr.2d 571]
there was no significance to the order of the instructions and that each instruction should be considered in light of all the others. We perceive no reasonable likelihood the jury felt constrained to proceed in the sequential manner defendant suggests. (People v. Dennis (1998) 17 Cal.4th 468, 537, 71 Cal.Rptr.2d 680, 950 P.2d 1035.)[122 Cal.Rptr.2d 571]
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