Taylor

Mark Edwin Taylor appealed his second degree murder conviction, based on Adrian Obregon’s death arising from Taylor selling him a few dollars’ worth of phencyclidine (PCP). We originally reversed, holding the statute upon which Taylor’s felony-murder conviction was based (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379.5) could be violated in a manner not inherently dangerous to life. The Supreme Court granted review and retransferred the case here with instructions to vacate our prior opinion and reconsider the case in light of People v. Patterson (1989) 49 Cal.3d 615 [ 262 Cal.Rptr. 195 , 778 P.2d 549 ]. We did so, reversed the murder conviction again and remanded the case for consideration under Patterson’s “high probability of death” standard, and affirmed in all other respects. The trial court found the standard had been met, reimposed the judgment, and Taylor appealed again. We affirm in part and reverse in part again.

The facts surrounding Obregon’s death have not changed. However, we elaborate on the expert evidence concerning the dangers of PCP because it formed the basis for the trial court’s ruling.

Adrian Obregon went to the beach with three friends. On their way, they…

I dissent from the majority’s holding that furnishing phencyclidine (PCP) is not an inherently dangerous felony for purposes of second degree felony murder. 1 Based on a combination of reasoning a fellow colleague recently characterized as prestidigitation, 2 reliance on the now discredited decision in Hurtado v. Statewide Home Loan Co. (1985) 167 Cal.App.3d 1019 [ 213 Cal.Rptr. 712 ], 3 and a misstatement of the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions, the majority concludes, using *1102 its own philosophical point of view, that furnishing PCP is not a felony inherently dangerous to human life, thereby rendering remand to the trial court for a determination of the same question a complete waste of time and judicial resources. In my opinion the majority’s reasoning and result are ludicrous.

A critical issue in this case is the standard of review to be applied. The majority spends most of its time and effort determining that the proper standard is de novo review. Yet, as is acknowledged, neither party raised nor addressed this issue in their briefs. Therefore, I believe under Government Code section 68081* ** 4 this court will ultimately have to grant a rehearing in order to…

Mark Edwin Taylor appealed his second degree murder conviction, based on Adrian Obregon's death arising from Taylor selling him a few dollars' worth of phencyclidine (PCP). We originally reversed, holding the statute upon which Taylor's felony-murder conviction was based (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379.5) could be violated in a manner not inherently dangerous to life. The Supreme Court granted review and retransferred the case here with instructions to vacate our prior opinion and reconsider the case in light of People v. Patterson (1989) 49 Cal.3d 615 [ 262 Cal. Rptr. 195 , 778 P.2d 549 ]. We did so, reversed the murder conviction again and remanded the case for consideration under Patterson 's "high probability of death" standard, and affirmed in all other respects. The trial court found the standard had been met, reimposed the judgment, and Taylor appealed again. We affirm in part and reverse in part again.

The facts surrounding Obregon's death have not changed. However, we elaborate on the expert evidence concerning the dangers of PCP because it formed the basis for the trial court's ruling.

Adrian Obregon went to the beach with three friends. On their way,…