Elements of Felony Murder Final Homicide defined Penal

Elements of Felony Murder Final

Homicide defined – Penal Law § 125. 00 • Homicide means conduct which causes the death of a person or an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than twenty-four weeks under circumstances constituting murder

Homicide defined • Person • when referring to the victim of a homicide, means a human being who has been born and is alive.

Felony Murder Penal Law § 125. 25(3) • Murder in the second degree (felony murder) is when a death is caused in the course of the commission or attempted commission of a designated crime and is in furtherance of the commission or attempted commission of that crime. • When there is a logical link between the commission or attempted commission of that crime and the death, and the death was not just coincidental to the commission or attempted commission of that crime.

Designated Crimes include: • Robbery or burglary • Kidnapping • Arson • Rape in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, or aggravated sexual abuse • Escape in the first degree or escape in the second degree.

Elements of Felony Murder in the Second Degree • That defendant committed or attempted to commit (designated crime) and • That, in the course of and in furtherance of the commission ( or attempted commission) of such felony (or immediate flight therefrom) the defendant (or participant) caused the death of a person and that person was not a participant in the felony. • Defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the commission of the crime.

“immediate flight therefrom” • In determining whether a person is in Immediate Flight from the commission or attempted commission of a felony you may consider: • The distance between the location where the death was caused; • The interval of time between the commission of the felony and the causing of the death; • Whether (police, security personnel, citizens) were in close pursuit at the time the death was caused; • Whether such person possessed fruits of the felony at the time the death was caused; • Whether such person had reached a place of temporary safety before the death was caused.

If there are multiple participants in the underlying felony: • When, in the course of and in furtherance of the commission ( or attempted commission) of a felony, or the immediate flight therefrom, a participant in the felony causes the death of a non -participant, all the participants are guilty of Murder in the Second Degree.

“In furtherance of” • The statute was revised in 2016 for the purpose of adding a definition of “in furtherance of” the commission or attempted commission of a crime. • The statute is intended to punish a perpetrator for a death he or she caused during the commission of a felony, but not a death that is coincidental to the felony. • The “in furtherance of” element requires a logical nexus (logical link) between the felony and the homicide.

Murder in the First Degree (Felony Murder) Penal Law § 125. 27 (1) (a) (vii) • An elevator for Felony Murder in the Second Degree to Felony Murder in the First Degree is Intent.

Terms: Murder in the First Degree (Felony Murder) • Intent- conscious objective or purpose. A person acts with intent to cause the death of another person when his or her conscious objective is to cause the death of that person.

Terms: Murder in the First Degree (Felony Murder) • Criminal Transaction- means conduct which establishes at least one offense, and which is comprised of two or more or a group of acts either (a) so closely related and connected in point of time and circumstance of commission as to constitute a single criminal incident, or (b) so closely related in criminal purpose or objective as to constitute elements or integral parts of a single criminal venture.

Terms- Murder in the First Degree (Felony Murder) • Serious Physical Injury- means impairment of a person's physical condition which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes death, or serious and protracted disfigurement, or protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ.

Elements: Felony Murder in the First Degree • Defendant caused the death of a person (actual victim) • Defendant did so by commanding another person to cause the death of (intended victim) • That the defendant did so with the intent to cause the death of (intended victim) • That (actual victim) was killed while defendant was in the course of committing (or attempting to commit) and in furtherance of a felony (or in the course of and furtherance of immediate flight after committing or attempting to commit a felony) and that the victim was not a participant in the felony • That the defendant was more than eighteen years old at the time of the commission of the crime.

Elements of Felony Murder in the First Degree: Two homicides during same criminal transaction • That the defendant caused the deaths of (actual victims) • That the defendant did so with the intent to cause the death of one victim and the intent to cause either the death or serious physical injury of the other victim • That the defendant caused both deaths during the same criminal transaction. • That neither victim was a participant in the criminal action