Also known as: felony murder theory · felony-murder · felony murder · felony murder rule · felony murder doctrine
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine of implied malice by which an intent to commit a felony supplies the malice aforethought required for murder when a death occurs during the commission of that felony.
Joe directed workers at his environmental cleanup company to bypass a secure gate and pump toxic sludge into a storm channel to avoid proper disposal costs. The resulting fumes killed a homeless man sleeping nearby. The intent to commit the underlying felony of illegal dumping supplies the implied malice that elevates the killing to murder.
Jackie disabled an alarm 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 intent to commit the felony of theft supplies implied malice for a murder conviction.
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Alison disabled a factory conveyor's emergency stop and jammed open a safety gate to speed up her secret removal of finished goods for resale. Her coworker was pulled into the machinery and killed. The intent to commit the felony of embezzlement supplies implied malice supporting a murder charge.
Leah slapped a phone from a colleague's hand and shoved him during a confrontation over her unauthorized securities sales. He fell into a glass partition and bled to death from lacerations. Because the underlying conduct was only a misdemeanor, the death supports involuntary manslaughter rather than felony murder.
Leah conducted off-the-books securities sales sessions that violated state law. During a later confrontation about the activity she shoved a colleague into shattering glass that caused fatal injuries. The death supports involuntary manslaughter under the unlawful-act theory because the felony did not qualify for the felony-murder rule.
A defendant committed a felony outside the narrow common-law categories that trigger felony murder. A foreseeable death resulted during the offense. The killing constitutes at least involuntary manslaughter because the felony did not qualify for treatment under the felony-murder rule.
No. The rule treats the intent to commit the underlying felony as supplying the malice aforethought required for murder even when the defendant never formed a separate intent to kill or injure anyone.
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The rule substitutes the intent to commit the predicate felony for express malice. That intent alone satisfies the malice element when a death occurs during commission of the felony.
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Yes. The prosecution need only prove that the defendant intended to commit the felony and that a death occurred during its commission. A separate conviction on the predicate felony is unnecessary.
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No. Such a killing supports only involuntary manslaughter under the unlawful-act theory provided the death is a foreseeable consequence of the offense.
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…way the authority of Day v. State , 196 Md. 384, 76 A. 2d 729. In that case two defendants were jointly tried and convicted of felony murder. Each admitted participating in the felony but accused the other of the homicide. On appeal the defendants attacked the trial court’s denial of a severance, and the State argued that…