Lewis
People v. Lewis
Opinion
Opinion
King, J.
I.
INTRODUCTION
Defendants and appellants Loran L. Lewis and Tyrone Murphy were in a stolen car involved in a police pursuit. They crashed the car into another vehicle, killing the occupants of the second vehicle. Defendants were convicted of, among other charges, second degree felony murder for each of the two deaths. The first time they appealed, they argued that the convictions of second degree felony murder must be reversed because the predicate felony, violating Vehicle Code section 2800.2, was not an inherently dangerous felony. This court held that section 2800.2 was an inherently dangerous felony and affirmed the second degree murder convictions.
Thereafter, the California Supreme Court decided People v. Howard (2005) 34 Cal.4th 1129 [ 23 Cal.Rptr.3d 306 , 104 P.3d 107 ] (Howard), in which it determined that section 2800.2 was not an inherently dangerous felony, and so could not support a second degree felony-murder conviction. After the California Supreme Court’s decision in Howard , we recalled the remittitur in this case and vacated our earlier opinion inasmuch as the basis for affirming the convictions had been wholly abrogated.