Felony-Murder Rule

choi

Daja Henry, High-Profile Cases Spark New Debate over Felony-Murder Laws; The statute are 'so broad thay they allow all kinds of odd scenarios.'  Wall Street Journal, Sept 23, 2019.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hig ... -murder-11569070801

Quote:

(a) "An Ohio teenager whose boyfriend was killed in a robbery gone wrong. A Florida man who lent his car to a friend, who then used it to commit a felony. A pregnant Alabama woman whose fetus died after a woman shot her in the stomach during an escalating fight.

"None of them pulled the trigger, but each was charged in the deaths that occurred through a longstanding, and increasingly controversial, legal principle called the felony-murder rule.

"The rule, centuries old and in place in 46 states, allows authorities to file murder charges when someone is killed during the commission of a felony, regardless of whether the death was intentional.

"Prosecutors who support the rule say it discourages people from participating in serious or dangerous felonies and decreases the likelihood of violence during commission of a felony. They also argue that an added level of culpability should apply when someone is killed during the crime.

" * * * 'That's the danger of these statutes, that they're so broad that they allow all kinds of odd scenarios,' said Pamela Pierson, emeritus professor of law at the University of Alabama.

(b) "The issue came up prominently last December in a case involving Marshae Jones, the pregnant Alabama woman.

"Following a dayslong dispute, Ms Jones encountered Ebony Jemison in the parking lot of a Dollar General [a dollar-store chain] in Pleasant Grove, Ala, according to Ms Jones's attorneys. After the two exchanged words, Jones, who was 27 years old and five months pregnant, started a fight with the other woman. Me Jemison then shot Ms Jones in the stomach, causing the death of Jones's unborn baby.

"A grand jury indicted Ms Jones on a manslaughter charge under the state's felony-murder statute. Prosecutors said that by starting and escalating the fight, Ms Jones engaged in a dangerous crime that was likely to cause a death.

"The charge against Ms Jones was dropped. * * * Lucius Outlaw III, a criminal justice professor at Howard University School of Law, called [the rule] an anomaly. 'Generally, the crime that you're charged with and the punishment are supposed to match what your intent is,' he said. 'With felony murder, someone doesn't have the intent to kill.'

(c) "Ryan Holle was 20 years old in 2003 when he let his housemate, William Allen Jr, borrow his car. Mr Allen and three other men used the car to drive to the home of a marijuana dealer to steal drugs and money. The burglary turned violent and ended in the death of 180year0old Jessica Snyder.

"Mr Holle said he didn't know the men were going to commit the crime -- and believed the men were using the car to get food.
* * *
" 'No car, no crime,' Mr [prosecutor David] Rimmer told the jury. 'No car, no murder.'

"Mr Holle was found guilty of first-degree murderand other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. The sentence was later commuted to 25 years in prison.

"Masonique Saunders was charged with the nurder of her boyfriend, Julius Tate, after he was shot and killed by a police officer in a botched robbery last December in Columbus, Ohio. Ms Saunders, 16 years old at the time, and Mr Tate had set up the robbery, unaware that their intended victim was a police officer involved in an undercover operation.

"The state sought to try Ms Saunders as an adult, which would have made her eligible to receive a life sentence without parole. But it withdrew the motion in May, when she accepted a deal in juvenile court to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and two aggravated robberies. She was sentenced to three years last month.

Note:
(a) Criticism about felony murder rule, specifically lack of intent to kill, has been rejected everywhere in the US, from Supreme Court down. See, eg,
Chiara Caraccio, The Injustice of the Felony-Murder Rule. Columbia Undergraduate Law Review, Nov 7, 2016 (blog)
https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ ... felony-murder-rule/
("One night in 2008, three teenage boys—Travis Castle, Justin Doyle, and Cody Moore—broke into a seemingly unoccupied house. The boys were unarmed, and had no previous criminal record. Upon their entrance, a guest staying at the house shot and killed Travis Castle. Since the guest was acting in self-defense, he was not charged with murder; instead, Travis Castle’s two unarmed, 15-year-old best friends were [citing Chicago Tribune]. * * * Mens rea, Latin for 'guilty mind,' is the standard common law test of criminal liability. * * * The only mens rea requirement for the felony murder rule is the intent to commit a felony")
(b)
(i) Ryan Holle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Holle
(ii) Holle v Secretary, Department of Correction. US District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Civil Action No 11-436-LAC-EMT
https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20120716842
("Before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus * * * On February 21, 2012, Respondent filed a motion to dismiss the petition as untimely * * * The relevant procedural history of this case is established by the state court record * * * Petitioner appealed the [Florida Circuit Court] judgment to the Florida First District Court of Appeal ("First DCA") * * * The First DCA affirmed per curiam [Latin for 'by the court' -- an unsigned opinion that said nothing but 'Affirmed' -- mostly because there is no issue that is worth a mention] without written opinion on May 4, 2006 * * * Holle v State, 928 So.2d 340 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (Table). Petitioner did not seek further review [from Florida Supreme Court; Now Holle was late to file this case in federal district court, resulting its dismissal]")

Because there is no appellate record, I do not know whether WSJ correctly describes prosecutor's theory.