What is Felony Murder?
The felony-murder rule states that a person can be found guilty of felony murder if they commit an underlying felony that sets in motion a direct chain of events that leads to a death. Despite the varying degrees of involvement each person might have had in a crime, the felony-murder law blends individual actors together and convicts them all as a person who killed someone else. First-degree murder is a conviction that carries a minimum sentence of twenty years and, under certain circumstances, a maximum sentence of natural life.
The theory behind felony murder establishes strict liability without requiring any culpable mental state around the actions that caused the death. As such, there are people serving life in prison today, convicted under the felony-murder law, without any involvement in the associated murder.
The United States is the only country in the world where the felony-murder rule still exists. The rule originated in England but was abolished there in 1957, and other common law countries soon followed.