Golden Gate University Law Review
Article Title
People v. Davis: California's Murder Statute and the Requirement of Viability for Fetal Murder
Abstract
In People v. Davis, the California Supreme Court held that the viability of a fetus is not required for a murder conviction under California Penal Code section 187(a). The Davis court ruled that the third-party killing of a fetus with malice aforethought is murder under California's murder statute so long as the state can show that the fetus has progressed beyond the embryonic stage of seven to eight weeks. This decision overturned eighteen years of California appellate court holdings.
Recommended Citation
Julie N. Qureshi,
People v. Davis: California's Murder Statute and the Requirement of Viability for Fetal Murder, 25 Golden Gate U. L. Rev.
(1995).
https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol25/iss3/5