State v. Peyton

In State v. Peyton, 29 Wn. App. 701, 714-15, 630 P.2d 1362, review denied, 96 Wn.2d 1024 (1981) the Court heks that when the evidence establishes a killing was committed in the course of a first degree felony murder predicate crime, "the trial court need not instruct on lesser offenses, even as to coparticipants". In Peyton, six defendants robbed a Tacoma bank. Four of the defendants, including Peyton, fled the scene in an automobile. A deputy sheriff was killed while chasing these four defendants. The State argued Peyton fired the fatal shot, but all of the defendants were tried and convicted under a theory of first degree felony murder. Peyton, 29 Wn. App. at 704-05. At trial, four of the six defendants urged the trial court to instruct the jury based on second degree murder. The trial court declined this invitation and the Court of Appeals affirmed, holding, "RCW 9A.32.030(1)(c) includes homicide while a defendant or his accomplices are in flight from a robbery." Peyton, 29 Wn. App. at 715.