| Front | Attack Plan for Felony Murder |
| Back | Prosecution must prove actus reus, causation, and mens rea of the underlying felony if those are elements of the crime. |
| Tags | Felony Murder |
| Front | Felony Murder Limitations |
| Back | 1. Inherently dangeous felonies: The felony itself must be inherently dangerous. Can the felony be committed without creating a substantial risk that someone will be killed? CA judges the felony in the abstract not using the specific facts of the situation.2. Res Gestae: A. The felony and the killing must be close in time: i.e., for the felony murder rule to apply, the killing must occur during the “commission of” the felony. -- The commission of the felony continues until the felon has reached a place of temporary safety (i.e., when the defendant is not longer actively fleeing or trying to escape from the crime scene). B. There must be some causal connection between the felonious conduct and the killing the majority rule simply requires actual (“but for”) causation. 3. Merger: The felony merges with the homicide if the felony is assaultive in nature. It is assulative if it involves an immediate threat of violent injury.Examine the elements of the felony in the abstract to determine if it is assaultive and possibly rely on scientific or technical evidence. 4. Agency: A felon cannot be convicted of felony murder if the killing is the direct result of a third party (someone who is not the felon or the felon’s agent). If a third-party is the direct cause of death, this essentially breaks the causal chain. |
| Tags | Felony Murder |
| Front | State v. Wanrow |
| Back | Suspected pedophile shot in house.Rule: Consider gender when analyzing the reasonableness of a female defendants self defense claim |
| Tags | Defenses Justification |