Hey,thanks much for your input.Would you care to comment quickly on how the existence of a serious juvenile record (if one exists) might play out in a *Federal* trial?
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.