People v. Swain case brief

People v. Swain case brief summary
909 P.2d 994 (1996)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendants appealed a decision from the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco (California), which affirmed their convictions for conspiracy to commit murder.

CASE FACTS
Defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder after they participated in a drive-by shooting. Defendants contended that the trial court improperly instructed the jury on an implied malice theory. Defendants alleged that the trial court should have advised the jury that the state had to prove that defendants intended to kill the victim in order to convict them. The appellate court affirmed defendants' convictions.

DISCUSSION

• On appeal, the court reversed defendants' convictions because intent to kill was a required element of conspiracy to commit murder. 
• Conspiracy to commit murder could not be based on a theory of implied malice because such offense could not be committed without intent to kill. 
• An agreement to murder necessarily involved the deliberate and premeditated intention to kill. 
• The trial court's improper jury instruction prejudiced defendants because the jury could have reasonably concluded that they could convict defendants without finding a specific intent to kill.

CONCLUSION
The court reversed defendants' conspiracy to commit murder convictions because the trial court committed reversible error when it improperly instructed the jury on an implied malice theory. The jury should have been instructed that it had to find defendants intended to kill their victim in order to convict them of conspiracy to commit murder.

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