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Criminal Law Keyed to Lee
People v. James
Citation:
62 Cal.App.4th 244, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 7 (1998)Facts
Kathey James lived in a mobile home with her four children and two other adults. All of the adults were methamphetamine users and had no other source of income. Kathey was manufacturing methamphetamine in a camper next to the home, and one of the chemicals she was using caught fire. As result, three of her children were killed and both the camper and the home was destroyed.
At trial, Kathey testified that she made about 300 batches of methamphetamine over a ten year period and had never had an explosion or fire. She stated that she only manufactured the drug in the camper, and never inside of the mobile home or in the presence of her children. She claimed that she manufactured in the “safest way as possible.”
Kathey was found guilty of three counts of second degree murder, among other drug related charges. The jury expressly based each of the second degree murder charges on second degree felony murder. She was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison. She appealed her convictions, arguing that manufacturing methamphetamine cannot be used to support a murder conviction under the felony murder rule because it is not inherently dangerous.
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