Billa

Defendant conspired with two others to commit arson of his truck for purposes of insurance fraud. All three conspirators were present at the scene of the burning. While committing the arson, one of the conspirators caught fire and burned to death. We must decide whether defendant is guilty of murdering that coconspirator under the felony-murder rule. We conclude, as did the Court of Appeal, that the felony-murder rule applies to all arsonists at the scene of the arson. In so doing, we distinguish People v. Ferlin (1928) 203 Cal. 587 [ 265 P. 230 ] (Ferlin), which held that the rule does not apply to a conspirator who was never at the scene. We leave for another day the question whether Ferlin was correctly decided on its facts.

I. THE FACTS

The prosecution presented evidence from which the jury could reasonably find the following. Defendant purchased a truck and insured it for physical damage. On August 26, 1997, defendant and two others, including Manoj Bhardwaj, drove from Yuba City towards Sacramento, with defendant and Bhardwaj in defendant’s truck and the third person following in a car. They intended to bum defendant’s track and obtain the insurance proceeds. Near…