Is reckless driving the basis for a second-degree murder conviction?

The rule that merely reckless driving cannot provide the basis for a second-degree murder conviction is illustrated by United States v. Hernandez-Rodriguez, 975 F.2d 622 (9th Cir.1992). The defendant in Hernandez-Rodriguez led Border Patrol agents on a three-hour high-speed chase, with speeds up to eighty miles per hour on the freeway and up to forty five to fifty miles per hour on surface streets. Id. at 624. Though the court acknowledged that the defendant did speed, he did go through stop signs, and he did ignore other traffic laws while evading the police, it held that something more was required to establish the malice aforethought necessary to prove second-degree murder. Id. at 627.