People v. Salas

After robbing a bar, Francisco Salas (defendant) fled by car and, just over a mile away, shot and killed a pursuing police officer before being apprehended on foot. Salas argued he was no longer "in the perpetration of" the robbery when he shot the officer, and that under existing precedent the jury needed a specific instruction on "scrambling possession" of the loot, which the trial court refused to give. Salas was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to death; he appealed the instructional issue.