People v. Hansen
Supreme Court of California
885 P.2d 1022 (1994)
After Echaves took $40 from Hansen (defendant) to buy drugs and instead fled, Hansen grabbed a handgun, drove to Echaves's apartment building, and fired shots at it, killing thirteen-year-old Diane, who was inside; Hansen was convicted of second-degree felony murder predicated on the felony of discharging a firearm at a dwelling, and an intermediate appellate court affirmed, finding the underlying felony both inherently dangerous to human life and not a lesser included offense of murder subject to the merger doctrine. Hansen appealed to the California Supreme Court.
Whether discharging a firearm into a dwelling is an inherently dangerous felony supporting second-degree felony murder, and whether it constitutes a lesser included offense of murder that would merge into the homicide and bar felony-murder liability.