People v. Lopez
Annotate this Case
After remand from the California Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal again affirmed defendants' convictions, as well as the related criminal street gang enhancements.
The court held that Senate Bill 1437 eliminates aider and abettor liability for murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine; SB 1437 does not modify accomplice liability for attempted murder; the Legislature's decision to limit the reform of aider and abettor liability under the natural and probable consequences doctrine to instances where the nontarget offense is murder does not violate equal protection; whether defendants' convictions for murder are properly vacated must be determined in the first instance by the sentencing court; the trial court properly instructed the jury that defendants could be convicted of attempted premeditated murder under the natural and probable consequences doctrine; substantial evidence supported the finding that the attempted murder of the victim was the natural and probable consequence of the conspiracy to commit vandalism; the instruction on the kill zone theory of attempted murder was harmless error; substantial evidence supported the criminal street gang findings; the trial court did not err by failing to instruct on attempted voluntary manslaughter; and defendants were entitled to new sentencing hearings.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.