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Felony Murder
In criminal law, sometimes the result eclipses the defendant's intention. Perhaps the least intuitive category of murder that we will study is felony murder. Under the felony murder rule, accidental and unintentional killings that occur during the commission of a felony are sometimes elevated from unintentional homicide to murder.
The felony murder rule has become controversial. By transferring intention and blameworthiness from a separate felony to a homicide, the felony murder rule significantly raises the stakes of any felony that may tangentially and even unforeseeably lead to death. It has evolved in scope over time and the felony murder rule is now often limited by modern statutes and judicial interpretations to deaths resulting from inherently dangerous felonies.
While reviewing the materials in this chapter, consider the following questions. Why might the felony murder doctrine have developed? How have courts and legislatures limited the rule over time. What concerns have animated criticisms of the rule? Have the efforts to limit the rule preserved its usefulness? Or is it an unfortunate relic of the past?
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