In Re Dorothy B.

Dorothy B. was accused of the first degree murder of her infant son in a petition filed pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602. The petition was sustained, and she was committed to the California Youth Authority. She argues: (1) There was insufficient independent evidence of a criminal agency to prove a corpus delicti and her incriminating extrajudicial statements were consequently inadmissible. (2) No corpus delicti of a first degree murder was independently proved, which also precluded introduction of her incriminating extrajudicial statements. (3) There was insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation. (4) The juvenile court failed to properly fix the degree of the murder and this court must amend the judgment to reflect a finding of murder in the second degree. And (5) the degree should be reduced from first to second in any event. We affirm.

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When Dorothy B., an unmarried high school student, became pregnant, she wanted an abortion. She met opposition, however. Her mother told her abortion amounted to murder and pressured her not to go through with it. Her boyfriend Paul, the expectant father, also opposed an abortion. Her stepfather told…