Also known as: felony murder rule · felony-murder · felony murder doctrine
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine under which a killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony constitutes murder even without proof of an intent to kill. The intent to commit the underlying felony supplies the implied malice required for murder liability.
Joe directed his workers to bypass a secure gate and pump hazardous waste into a storm channel at night to avoid proper disposal costs. A homeless man sleeping nearby inhaled the fumes and died from toxic exposure. The death occurred while Joe was carrying out the felony of illegal dumping.
Jackie disabled an alarm system and locked a security guard in a server cage while stealing processors from a data center. An electrical fire started during the theft and the guard died from smoke inhalation. The death took place while Jackie was committing the felony of burglary.
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Alison disabled a conveyor's emergency stop and jammed open a safety gate to speed up her secret removal of factory goods for resale. Her coworker was pulled into the machinery and killed while clearing a jam created during the loading. The death happened while Alison was committing the felony of embezzlement.
Leah conducted unauthorized off-the-books securities sales sessions that violated state laws. When a colleague confronted her about the illegal activity she shoved him into a glass partition that shattered and caused fatal lacerations. The death occurred amid the ongoing commission of the securities felony.
Walter and Owen entered a restricted hospital storage room after hours to steal diagnostic devices. Walter injected an elderly patient blocking their path with an unauthorized sedative that caused respiratory arrest and death. The death took place while the pair were committing the felony of theft.
Ulysses and Clifford confronted a woman in her SUV at an airport parking structure and ordered her out at knifepoint to steal the vehicle. During the struggle the SUV pinned her against a pillar and she died from her injuries. The death occurred while the men were committing the felony of carjacking.
No. The rule treats the defendant's intent to commit the underlying felony as supplying the implied malice needed for murder. A killing during the felony therefore supports a murder conviction even without any separate intent to cause death.
Supporting sources
An intent to commit the predicate felony itself supplies the required implied malice. The rule therefore converts an unintentional killing during the felony into murder without needing proof of express malice or other forms of implied malice such as intent to inflict great bodily injury.
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Yes in jurisdictions that apply the rule to any felony.
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The felony-murder rule elevates an unintentional killing during a felony to murder by supplying implied malice. The misdemeanor-manslaughter rule treats an unintentional killing during a misdemeanor or non-covered felony as involuntary manslaughter rather than murder.
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…and him, one wielding a pipe and the other a knife.[^maj-1] The trial judge submitted the murder charges to the jury on both felony-murder and nonfelony-murder theories. He also instructed on the issue of self-defense but declined to instruct on manslaughter. He submitted the robbery case to the jury on both an armed-robbery…