Essay Sample on Law Felony Murder

Felony murder is a broadening legal doctrine of the murder crime. It is such that if an offender commits a kind of felony and dies in the course of it, that is termed as felony murder. It is also referred to as the lack of intent where with the fact that the defendant could be convicted in the form of first-degree murder on the basis of the felony liability, it might be a mitigating circumstance to determine where the penalty of death is appropriate. Cases of felony murder include.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The case of state v. Jordan

There was no evidence from the case which demonstrated the lack of specific intent by the defendant to cause death. The constitutional court judgment defined intent to be more than a desire to achieve a certain result. If the actions of the defendant are with the knowledge that the behavior is likely to cause a result, it is an intended case. The defendant argued that he was not aware of the victim hence no evidence that he had the intentions of killing him when he got to the store. The court ruled that it showed some lack of premeditation other than the lack of intent to kill.

The case of State v. Schad

The argument given by the defendant was that there was a felony murder instruction given to him and there was also no evidence that he had the requisite intent to kill. The court discovered that if there was a felony murder instruction given, it could be a mitigating circumstance. Argument by the court was still the same in that if the defendant acted with the knowledge to cause a result, then it was intended. The death of the victim was as a result of asphyxiation through strangulation. In that case, it is without evidence to conclude that strangling another person is obviously with the intention of killing.

The case of State v. Zaragoza

Proof established about this case was that Zaragoza had repeatedly hit the victim on the head and also left her in a bleeding state hence no evidence that he did not intend to murder the victim. The obvious conclusion from this case is that anyone that tries to beat a woman of 78 years old and leaves them bleeding has the intention of killing. Zaragoza did not establish mitigation for lack of intent in this circumstance.

The case of State v. Gillies

The case was such that there were two men who were the main perpetrators of the crime upon the victim and each of them made accusations to the other of striking the blow. The jury gave a verdict that the two were to be charged with first-degree murder. This is because there was active participation of each defendant in the events that led to the death of the victim. The defendant was present all along and there was nothing he did to interfere.

The case of State v. McDaniel

McDaniel's felony of being sentenced to life was reduced because of his participation in robbing, beating and also tying the victim. He further went ahead to lock the victim in the trunk of his own car. The court found his lack of intent to kill as a mitigating circumstance which was sufficient to leniency. It is because the car where the victim had been locked was left in an apartment where people could easily hear him inside and save him.