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Felony Murder

Terms in this set (14)

Felony Murder Limitations
- these limits are creatures of the common law that have been incorporated into modern homicide schemes by judges or legislatures
- where the legislature clearly intends to ignore one of these limits, a judge will abandon a contrary common law presumption and apply the statute as the legislature wrote it
1) limits on the types of felonies that trigger the felony murder rule
2) Felony-merger doctrine
3) limits on the causal relationship between the felony and the resulting death
4) limits on the duration of the felony
types of limitations on felony murder
1) limits on the types of felonies that trigger the felony murder rule
2) Felony-merger doctrine
3) limits on the causal relationship between the felony and the resulting death
4) limits on the duration of the felony
types of felonies that can trigger: 2 ways
1) enumeration
2) inherently dangerous (majority)
> abstract approach (majority)
> manner of commission approach (minority)
Enumerated Felonies
- the statute lists the felonies that suffice for felony murder and limits felony murder liability to that list
- some statutes enumerate felonies but do not limit felony murder liability to that list
· Rape
· Robbery
· Kidnapping
· Arson
· Burglary
(ATTEMPT of any of these also merge!)
Inherently Dangerous - notes:
- at common law, only felonies that were inherently dangerous to human life supported felony murder
- the inherently dangerous rule is NOT applied to felonies that are enumerated in the statute
- this rule can be interpreted in two ways
Abstract Approach (majority approach)
- a felony is inherently dangerous only if there is no way the felony can be committed without creating a substantial risk that someone will die
* asks whether there exists some possible way for the felony to be committed safely[DDL1]
- even felonies that are often considered dangerous fail to satisfy this test because there is a safe way to commit the crime
[DDL1]If so it is not inhereintly dangerous
Manner of Commission approach (minority approach)
- interpret inherently dangerous by manner of commission = a felony is inherently dangerous if the conduct was committed in a dangerous manner in the case before the court
Limiting felony murder to independent felony - (merger) doctrine
* occurs when the underlying felony can be proven by showing that one wanted to kill
Felonious conduct should be independent from and not integral part of the killing
- while death must result from a felony in order to support felony murder, the felony must be independent from the resulting homicide
Limits on the causal relationship between the felony and the resulting death
- several rules define the relationship that must exist between the death and the underlying felony for felony murder
- felony murder required that the killing be within the thing done by the felony
3 rules
1) time and place rules
2) logical relationship rules
3) causal rules
Time & Place Rules
- the death must be related to the time and place to the underlying felony
* time is the more important factor
- felony begins with conduct sufficient to constitute an attempt and ends when a defendant reaches a place of temporary safety
* temporary safety rule is a reasonable place to end liability [DDL1]
[DDL1]This is the majority rule...how people define it is the difference
Res Gestae Theory
- res gestae theory = whether the killing was committed in, about, and as a part of the underlying transaction
* must look at all circumstances surrounding and connected to the happening
* ask: is the death within the res gestae?
- the time and place giving rise to a felony murder is a question for the jury
- unusual twist is the homicide that precedes (comes before) the felony
--> in this case, you are guilty of second degree murder for an unpremeditated intentional killing, but not first degree felony murder because the killing preceded and not "within the thing done"
Logical Relationship
- it is not felony murder if the killing is not logically related in any way to the felony
- felony murder applies to acts committed in furtherance of the felony = common law rule that may jurisdictions have adopted
- the mere fact that a killing coincided in time and place with a felony does not mean that the act causing the death was necessarily committed in furtherance of the felony
Felony-Murder- Rule on causal/temporal relationship:
the felony-murder rule requires both a causal relationship and a temporal relationship between the underlying felony and the act resulting in death.
*The causal relationship is established by proof of a logical nexus, beyond mere coincidence of time and place, between the homicidal act and the underlying felony the non-killer committed or attempted to commit.
*The temporal relationship is established by proof the felony and the homicidal act were part of one continuous transaction.
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