(a)All murder that is perpetrated by means of a destructive device or explosive, a weapon of mass destruction, knowing use of ammunition designed primarily to penetrate metal or armor, poison, lying in wait, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or that is committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, carjacking, robbery, burglary, mayhem, kidnapping, train wrecking, or any act punishable under Section 206, 286, 287, 288, or 289, or former Section 288a, or murder that is perpetrated by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle, intentionally at another person outside of the vehicle with the intent to inflict death, is murder of the first degree.
(b)All other kinds of murders are of the
second degree.
(c)As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Destructive device” has the same meaning as in Section 16460.
(2)“Explosive” has the same meaning as in Section 12000 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3)“Weapon of mass destruction” means any item defined in Section 11417.
(d)To prove the killing was “deliberate and premeditated,” it is not necessary to prove the defendant maturely and meaningfully reflected upon the gravity of the defendant’s act.
(e)A participant in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a felony listed in subdivision (a) in which a death occurs is liable for murder
only if one of the following is proven:
(1)The person was the actual killer.
(2)The person was not the actual killer, but, with the intent to kill, aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, solicited, requested, or assisted the actual killer in the commission of murder in the first degree.
(3)The person was a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life, as described in subdivision (d) of Section 190.2.
(f)Subdivision (e) does not apply to a defendant when the victim is a peace officer who was killed while in the course of the peace officer’s duties, where the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the victim was a peace officer engaged in the performance of the peace officer’s
duties.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
636
cases (
145 in the last 5 years), 1936–2026 · leading case:
People v. Strong, 514 P.3d 265 (Cal. 2022).
People v. Strong, 514 P.3d 265 (Cal. 2022).
· cites it 5× “” (Pen. Code, § 189, subd. (e)(3); see id., § 1172.”
People v. Sanchez, 29 P.3d 209 (Cal. 2001).
· cites it 6× “The district attorney prosecuted defendant for first degree murder on two theories: premeditated first degree murder (Pen.Code, § 189) [1] and first degree murder perpetrated by means of intentionally discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle with specific intent to inflict…”
People v. Ceja, 847 P.2d 55 (Cal. 1993).
· cites it 10× “(Pen. Code, § 189; see People v. Ruiz (1988) 44 Cal.”
People v. Swain, 909 P.2d 994 (Cal. 1996).
· cites it 8× “, poison, lying in wait, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which is committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, [certain enumerated felonies], or any murder which is perpetrated by means of discharging a firearm…”
People v. Guerra, 129 P.3d 321 (Cal. 2006).
· cites it 4× “What the evidence failed sufficiently to demonstrate is that defendant killed Powell while engaged in the attempted commission of rape.”
People v. Dillon, 668 P.2d 697 (Cal. 1983).
· cites it 4× “) (15a) California has a very similar statute, Penal Code section 189, [10] and we need not speculate on its provenance; its draftsmen acknowledged that it was taken directly from the *465 1794 Pennsylvania statute.”
People v. Bright, 909 P.2d 1354 (Cal. 1996).
· cites it 6× “" As in the case of the parallel statute for the crime of murder, Penal Code section 189, what is required is a necessary element of the offense, not a circumstance separate from the underlying offense.”
People v. Jones, 18 P.3d 674 (Cal. 2001).
· cites it 4× “We look for guidance to our cases construing other Penal Code provisions that use the phrase "in the commission of or substantially similar languagespecifically the provisions defining felony murder (Pen.Code, § 189; see also id., § 190.2, subd.”
People v. Story, 204 P.3d 306 (Cal. 2009).
· cites it 3× “Later, an amended indictment—the one in operation at trial—simply alleged that defendant “did unlawfully and with malice aforethought, kill Betty Yvonne Vickers, a human being.” The reference to rape *1291 and burglary was deleted.”
Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 (1982).
· cites it 2× “Cal. Penal Code Ann. §§ 189, 190.2(a)(17) (West Supp.”
Schad v. Arizona, 501 U.S. 624 (1991).
· cites it 2× “§ 1111 ; Cal. Penal Code Ann. § 189 (West 1988 and Supp.”
— Cal. Penal Code § 189(a) — 3 cases
— Cal. Penal Code § 189(e) — 2 cases
— Cal. Penal Code § 189(e)(2) — 2 cases
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.