People v. Stamp

Court of Appeal of California, Second, December 1, 1969

Appeal from Superior Court of Los Angeles in which the court found defendants guilty of first-degree robbery and first-degree murder.

Overview
Defendant and his criminal friends entered a building housing a business, ordered the employees to lie on the floor, robbed the occupants of the business located within the building, and fled. The owner of the business in building, Carl Honeyman, was stressed and badly shaken up by the robbery and the acts of the defendant and his criminal friends. When the police arrived, the owner of the business housed by the building told the police he did not feel well. that his heart was beating too fast, and had a pain in his chest. The owner, Carl Honeyman, then collapsed on the floor and, later, was pronounced dead. The coroner's report listed the cause of death as heart attack. Defendant and his criminal friends were found guilty of first-degree robbery and first-degree murder and they appealed. One issue on appeal was whether the felony-murder doctrine should have been applied in this case due to the unforeseeability of the owner's death. The court affirmed the judgment. The court held that because the homicide was a direct causal result of the robbery, the felony-murder rule applied whether or not the death was a natural or probable cause of the robbery.

Outcome
The apellate court affirmed the lower court's decision and and determined that because the homicide was a direct casual result of the robbery, the felony-murder rule applied whether or not the death was a natural or probable cause of the robbery.

People v. Stamp, 2 Cal. App. 3d 203, 207