[Lurkinanloomin]

Isn’t murder always a felony?

Never heard of misdemeanor murder.

[hanamizu]

Isn’t murder always a felony?

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I’m not a lawyer, but as I understand it, ‘felony murder’ refers to a death caused during the commission of a felony. If one commits a serious crime (felony) and someone dies because of it, one can be charged with felony murder. Say someone is running away from a bank robbery and the police car chasing them hits and kills a pedestrian, then the robbers can be charged with felony murder.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

Felony murder is when the commission of a felony, NOT necessarily, and not usually, murder, results in the wrongful death of anyone involved. So if A and B commit a felony on C, and C kills A in self defense, B is guilty of felony murder because C killed B’s accomplice A.

Here there was no actual murder. There was only one death, of one perpetrator. The person who actually killed the deceased perpetrator did not commit murder, or any crime. The five “yoots” are being charged with murder because they were engaged in robbing the person who actually killed the sixth yoot, a felony.

[guido911]

Google “felony murder”.