In Re Joseph G.
Supreme Court of California
34 Cal.3d 429 (1983)
Sixteen-year-old friends Joseph G. (defendant) and Jeff W. told friends they planned to kill themselves by driving off a cliff; witnesses saw the car drive over the cliff without slowing, swerving, or changing course, killing Jeff and severely injuring Joseph (including losing his foot), after which Joseph admitted he drove off the cliff on purpose. Joseph was charged with murder in juvenile court under the state's aiding-and-abetting-suicide statute, but the court instead upheld a murder charge and dismissed the aiding-and-abetting count; Joseph appealed, arguing he could only be convicted of aiding and abetting suicide, not murder.
Whether a survivor of a genuine, mutual suicide pact — in which both parties planned to die simultaneously using the same instrumentality — should be charged with murder rather than aiding and abetting suicide.