In the state of California, the common law felony murder rule has been codified in California Penal Code § 189.
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California Penal Code § 189 classifies a homicide as first degree murder when it is a murder committed during the commission of one of the following predicate felonies:[1]
On January 7, 2011, the California Court of Appeal held in People v. Wilkins ((2011 WL 3694034 (Cal.) (Appellate Brief)) that it was not a violation of due process to apply the felony murder rule where death resulted from a negligent act committed while actively engaged in a burglary. Wilkins committed a burglary. On the way from the burglary, unsecured items fell from his pickup truck, causing another driver to swerve and become involved in a fatal collision. Found guilty of first degree felony murder, he received a 25 year to life sentence, upheld by the Court of Appeal.[2]
In the case People v. Ford, 60 Cal.2d 772 (1964), the California Supreme Court held that homicide during the commission of a felony can constitute second degree murder if the felony is "inherently dangerous to human life."[3]
In the case People v. Hansen, 9 Cal.4th 300 (1994), the California Supreme Court held that discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling is an inherently dangerous felony for the purposes of second degree felony murder.[4]
California courts have also found manufacturing methamphetamine,[5] maliciously burning a car,[6] and possessing a bomb in a residential area [7] to be inherently dangerous felonies.