SACRAMENTO — State legislators approved a measure Thursday that would overturn a law allowing people to be charged with murder even if they were not directly involved in a killing.
SB1437 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would change the state’s felony murder rule that holds an accomplice in an offense such as robbery liable for a homicide that happens during the crime, regardless of whether the defendant was involved in the killing.
Instead, the bill would allow a suspect to be charged with first-degree murder only if he or she was the actual killer, solicited the murder or aided the slaying in a way that showed a “reckless indifference to human life.” The bill exempts any case in which a police officer is killed.
The Senate approved the bill by 27-9, a day after the Assembly passed it on a vote of 42-36. It now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature. The governor has not indicated whether he would approve the bill.
Skinner pointed to a 2018 survey by the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and Restore Justice, which found that 72 percent of incarcerated women in the state with a life sentence did not personally commit the murders for which they were convicted. The average age of someone charged as an accomplice to murder is 20.
SB1437 would allow those who have been convicted under the felony murder rule to petition a court to be resentenced.
Although the bill sailed through the Senate, supporters in the Assembly had to spend several hours lobbying hesitant Democrats to win the votes needed for passage.
“We all recognize that the felony murder rule needs to be reformed, it needs to be changed,” said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), who voted against the measure. “We’ve all heard somewhat anecdotal examples of people who have had minimal involvement or not showing of intent to commit murder but are convicted under the felony murder rule. But this bill is not the right solution.”
CA bill letting uninvolved accomplices off hook for murders goes to Brown
SB1437 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would change the state’s felony murder rule that holds an accomplice in an offense such as robbery liable for a homicide that happens during the crime, regardless of whether the defendant was involved in the killing.
Instead, the bill would allow a suspect to be charged with first-degree murder only if he or she was the actual killer, solicited the murder or aided the slaying in a way that showed a “reckless indifference to human life.” The bill exempts any case in which a police officer is killed.
The Senate approved the bill by 27-9, a day after the Assembly passed it on a vote of 42-36. It now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature. The governor has not indicated whether he would approve the bill.
Skinner pointed to a 2018 survey by the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and Restore Justice, which found that 72 percent of incarcerated women in the state with a life sentence did not personally commit the murders for which they were convicted. The average age of someone charged as an accomplice to murder is 20.
SB1437 would allow those who have been convicted under the felony murder rule to petition a court to be resentenced.
Although the bill sailed through the Senate, supporters in the Assembly had to spend several hours lobbying hesitant Democrats to win the votes needed for passage.
“We all recognize that the felony murder rule needs to be reformed, it needs to be changed,” said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), who voted against the measure. “We’ve all heard somewhat anecdotal examples of people who have had minimal involvement or not showing of intent to commit murder but are convicted under the felony murder rule. But this bill is not the right solution.”
CA bill letting uninvolved accomplices off hook for murders goes to Brown
game changer
