People v. Ireland

People v. Ireland
Supreme Court of California
Decided February 28, 1969
Full case name	The People v. Patrick Ireland
Citation(s)	70 Cal.2d 522 450 P.2d 580 75 Cal.Rptr. 188 40 A.L.R.3d 1323
Case history
Prior history	70 Cal. Rptr. 381 (reversed)
Holding
An assault cannot serve as the predicate felony for a murder conviction under the felony murder rule.
Court membership
Chief Justice	Roger J. Traynor
Associate Justices	Mathew Tobriner, Raymond E. Peters, Stanley Mosk, Raymond L. Sullivan, Louis H. Burke, Marshal F. McComb
Case opinions
Majority	Sullivan, joined by Traynor, Peters, Tobriner, Mosk, Burke
Dissent	McComb

People v. Ireland, 70 Cal.2d 522 (1969), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of California that first introduced the merger doctrine in that state.[1]

Decision

The defendant shot his wife with two .38 caliber bullets and killed her. The defendant was convicted of second degree murder after jury instructions were given that included an instruction on the felony murder rule. The California Supreme Court reversed the conviction based on the merger doctrine. The court reasoned that the underlying assault merged with the resulting homicide in the sense that the homicide did not require a felonious purpose independent of that required for the assault.[2]

References

1. Bonnie, R.J. et al. Criminal Law, Second Edition. Foundation Press, New York, NY: 2004, p. 869
2. Bonnie, p. 866