| Litigants: | People v. Ireland |
| Decidedate: | February 28 |
| Decideyear: | 1969 |
| Fullname: | The People v. Patrick Ireland |
| Citations: | 450 P.2d 580 75 Cal.Rptr. 188 40 A.L.R.3d 1323 |
| Prior: | 70 Cal. Rptr. 381 (reversed) |
| Holding: | An assault cannot serve as the predicate felony for a murder conviction under the felony murder rule. |
| Chiefjudge: | Roger J. Traynor |
| Majority: | Sullivan |
| Joinmajority: | Traynor, Peters, Tobriner, Mosk, Burke |
| Dissent: | McComb |
People v. Ireland, 70 Cal.2d 522 (1969), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of California that first introduced the merger doctrine in that state.[1]
The defendant shot his wife with two .38 caliber bullets and killed her. The defendant was convicted of second degree murder after jury instructions were given that included an instruction on the felony murder rule. The California Supreme Court reversed the conviction based on the merger doctrine. The court reasoned that the underlying assault merged with the resulting homicide in the sense that the homicide did not require a felonious purpose independent of that that required for the assault.[2]