## Facts

- Vikram Gill Billa, Manoj Bhardwaj, and a third man agreed to burn Billa’s insured truck to obtain insurance proceeds.
- The three drove from Yuba City toward Sacramento, with Billa and Bhardwaj in the truck and the third man following in another vehicle.
- Near Wheatland, Billa drove the truck onto a gravel road, stopped around a bend, and all three began setting the truck on fire using kerosene or diesel fuel.
- Bhardwaj’s clothing became soaked with fuel; evidence suggested he may have had a leaking fuel container on his lap during the drive.
- While the truck was being ignited, Bhardwaj’s fuel-soaked clothing caught fire; he suffered severe burns and later died.
- A jury convicted Billa of second degree murder (felony murder), arson causing great bodily injury, and making a false or fraudulent insurance claim.
- The trial court instructed the jury only on felony murder as the basis for the murder count.

## Issues

1. Whether California’s felony-murder rule permits a surviving arson participant to be convicted of second degree murder when a coconspirator and joint participant dies at the scene after accidentally catching fire during the arson.

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court affirmed the murder conviction.
- The court held the felony-murder rule applies to all arsonists who are present at the scene and participating in the arson when a death results during the arson’s commission.
- The court distinguished precedent denying felony-murder liability where the deceased conspirator was not at the arson scene and expressly left unresolved whether that precedent was correctly decided on its facts.

## Legal Principles

- Arson is an inherently dangerous felony that can serve as the predicate for second degree felony murder when a death occurs during its commission or attempted commission.
- Felony-murder liability may attach even when the decedent is a coparticipant in the underlying inherently dangerous felony, so long as the death occurs during and arises from the felony’s commission at the scene.
- Prior decisions stating that a person cannot be liable for “murder” of an accomplice who “kills himself” do not bar felony-murder liability where the death results from the dangerous conditions created by joint commission of arson at the scene.
- Presence at, and active participation in, the underlying felony at the location of the fatal event is a key factor supporting application of felony murder in this context.

## Conclusion

California’s felony-murder rule supports a second degree murder conviction when a death occurs during an arson and all participants are present and engaged in the burning, even if the person who dies is a fellow arsonist who accidentally catches fire.


People v. Billa, 31 Cal. 4th 1064, 79 P.3d 542 (Cal. 2003)