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Just taking part in a crime that resulted in a death not reason for murder charge, state Supreme Court rules
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State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, sponsored the law eliminates murder charges against defendants who did not kill or intend to kill but took part in a crime in which death was a “natural and probable consequence.”Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press
California law formerly allowed murder charges against someone who did not kill anyone or intend to do so but took part in a crime — a street fight, for example — in which death was a “natural and probable consequence.”