You sure about that? I have heard that rumor, but found nothing to back it up. All I see posted if that your first street racing conviction, you face a min of 24 hrs in jail, a max of 90 days and car impounded for 30 days
Fair enough. I spent some time digging and you are correct. I found no proof that street racing in and of itself is a felony. However, once something bad happens resulting in death, Implied Malice takes over and all active participants can be charged with murder, whether you are the driver or passenger in either car, starter, or promoter.
I found this on a California legal site:
"B. Implied Malice Murder
The second category of second-degree murder is implied malice murder, which is an unintentional killing caused by extremely reckless behavior. California law provides two types of implied malice murder: depraved heart murder and provocative act murder. In California, the courts do not use the term "depraved heart murder." The concept is instead discussed in terms of implied malice. However, California courts do utilize the term "provocative act murder." These two categories of implied malice share the same mens rea requirement of extreme recklessness. The primary difference between them is that in provocative act murder, liability attaches because of a particular causal pattern involving a defendant's action and a third party's reaction that kills the victim.
The two basic elements of implied malice murder are: an unlawful act resulting in dangerous consequences, and the defendant knew about the danger of the acts, yet consciously and deliberately disregarded the danger to human life. These elements together show that the defendant acted with extreme recklessness.
In People v. Watson, the California Supreme Court defined implied malice as a subjective determination that the defendant in fact realized that his actions had "a high probability ... [of] ... resulting in death ... [and yet acted] with a base antisocial motive and with a wanton disregard for human life." However, the prosecution does not need to prove that the defendant intended to kill."
I did find cases where California has gotten murder convictions from street racing wrecks too.
