I am a Missouri lawyer, and the felony murder statute reads as follows:
1. A person commits the crime of murder in the second degree if he:
(1) Knowingly causes the death of another person or, with the purpose of causing serious physical injury to another person, causes the death of another person; or
(2) Commits or attempts to commit any felony, and, in the perpetration or the attempted perpetration of such felony or in the flight from the perpetration or attempted perpetration of such felony, another person is killed as a result of the perpetration or attempted perpetration of such felony or immediate flight from the perpetration of such felony or attempted perpetration of such felony.
I would interpret that here as Johnson NOT being liable for felony murder because they were not in "immediate flight" from the felony (assuming that Brown's acts in the store would even be charged as a felony in the first place, which is of course up for debate). Now, if Brown did in fact assault the police officer, then THAT could be a felony under Missouri Statute 565.081-Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer, and Brown could have technically been "in immediate flight" from that felony. However, there is nothing in the facts that we know now that purport Johnson had anything to do with that, so it's unlikely he could be charged in Brown's death if Brown was considered to be acting on his own in assaulting the officer, which he likely was.
Hopefully that makes some sense.
Hey,thanks for weighing in on this.It's posts like yours that remind me that the semi-literate like myself wouldn't stand a chance in law school! ;-)
Another question,if you have a minute...under what circumstances would records of a juvenile's criminal/police record in Missouri *not* be eligible for release once that individual is deceased? I ask because,as you may know,there are reports that the "Gentle Giant" had a *serious* record of criminality as a juvenile and some organization is demanding that the records be released.Thanks for any time you're willing to spend educating me (us)!
Why do you think Brown and Johnson were not in “immediate flight”?
They were stopped by Officer Wilson literally less than ten minutes after the robbery, they were carrying the stolen goods at the time he stopped them, and it appears likely they had not stopped anywhere in the meantime but had proceeded on foot directly from the scene of the robbery to where Officer Wilson stopped them.
In my jurisdiction we could not charge Johnson with Brown’s death because our felony murder rule is interpreted so as not to include the death of a co-felon (but we can charge a felon with the death of a bystander or a cop).
Even in jurisdictions that allow a felon to be charged with the death of a co-felon sometimes there is an exception in the case of a co-felon killed by a cop. I have no idea how the rule is interpreted in Missouri.