Under what circumstances will a defendant be found guilty of a felony-murder charge?

[17 Cal.Rptr.3d 905]

Defendant asserts that these instructions were erroneous and confusing because the felony-murder rule requires that a defendant must have the specific intent to commit one of the enumerated felonies (e.g., People v. Hernandez, supra, 47 Cal.3d at p. 346, 253 Cal.Rptr. 199, 763 P.2d 1289), which means that the defendant must harbor specific intent to commit every element of burglary or robbery, not just the specific intent to steal. The trial judge should have stated, defendant asserts, that the prosecutor needed to prove defendant specifically intended to commit every element of the burglary and robbery, as opposed to stating generally that the specific intent requirement for felony murder is "the specific intent as included in the definitions of the crimes."

[17 Cal.Rptr.3d 905]

Not so. We rejected this precise argument in People v. Pollock (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1153, 1175, 13 Cal.Rptr.3d 34, 89 P.3d 353, stating: "Defendant argues that a specific intent to commit the underlying felony means a specific intent to commit the crime as a whole or . . . to commit each element of the underlying felony, and not merely the specific intent, if any, that is required for the commission of the underlying felony. [] Defendant is mistaken, at least as to underlying felonies that are specific intent crimes. For felony murder in the commission of a robbery or of a burglary in which entry is made for the purpose of theft, the only specific intent that the prosecution must prove is the specific intent to steal the victim's property, which includes a specific intent to permanently deprive the victim of the property. [Citation.] A defendant who has this specific intent has the only specific intent required for liability under the felony-murder rule." (See also People v. Visciotti (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1, 56, 5 Cal.Rptr.2d 495, 825 P.2d 388 [stating that intent to steal is the only mental state relevant to felony murder in the commission of robbery].)