Source: https://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=17-0401&s=WV&d=128309
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 18:33:26+00:00

Document:
Defendant's Attorney: Andrew R. Shumate, Esq.
petitioner and Mr. Evans decided to rob Mr. Palmer rather than purchase the drugs from him.
wearing a mask at the time. Both the petitioner and Mr. Evans had guns and robbed Mr.
to help, she sustained a single gunshot wound when four rounds from a gun were discharged.
There was no evidence as to who discharged the gun.
endangerment involving a firearm of Mr. Greene, attempted first-degree murder of Mrs.
Greene, malicious assault of Mrs. Greene, wanton endangerment involving a firearm of Mrs.
Greene, misdemeanor illegal possession of a firearm, and felony conspiracy.
easier for . . . [it] to prove the commission of the crime than it is to prove premeditation.
sentencing order that the petitioner appeals.
of law or involving an interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review.’ Syl.
State v. Butler, 239 W. Va. 168, 799 S.E.2d 718 (2017).
the existence of the crime of attempted felony-murder.
in article four, chapter sixty-a of this code, is murder of the first degree.” (Citation omitted).
definitively concluded that in order for felony-murder to apply, there must be a homicide.
162 W. Va. at 223, 248 S.E.2d at 841; Robertson v. Commonwealth, 1 Va.Dec. 851, 856, 20 S.E. 362, 364 (1894).
Davis, 229 W. Va. at 668, 735 S.E.2d at 265.
felony to fulfill the intent needed for first-degree murder. As the Court stated in State v.
[t]he felony murder doctrine, as developed at common law, provides that where a homicide occurs in the course of, or as a result of, a separate, distinct felony, the felonious intent involved in the underlying felony may be transferred to supply the intent to kill necessary to characterize the homicide as murder. See generally 40 Am. Jur. 2d, Homicide, § 72 et seq. (1968); Annot., 13 A.L.R. 4th 1226 (1982).
murder cannot be committed as the crime lacks intent. Id.
“[i]n order to constitute the crime of attempt, two requirements must be met: (1) a specific intent to commit the underlying substantive crime; and (2) an overt act toward the commission of that crime, which falls short of completing the underlying crime.” Syl. Pt. 2, State v. Starkey, 161 W. Va. 517, 244 S.E.2d 219 (1978).
any attempt crime is “a specific intent to commit the underlying substantive crime.” 187 W.
suggest that a defendant can be convicted of attempted felony-murder.
In order to find the defendant Marcus Stephen Sanders guilty of attempted first degree murder, you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the defendant Marcus Stephen Sanders (2) on or about December 9, 2014 (3) in Raleigh County, West Virginia, (4) did, during the commission of the felony crime of robbery or delivery of a controlled substance (5) attempt to kill 7 Christopher Greene, (6) and that he committed a substantial overt act toward the commission of the crime, (7) but which act fell short of completing the underlying crime.
precise issue and have similarly rejected the crime of attempted felony-murder. See State v.
(...continued)8 or s. 775.084, which is an offense ranked in level 7 of the Criminal Punishment Code. Victim injury points shall be scored under this subsection.
anyone and where no death occurred.”); People v. Burress, 505 N.Y.S.2d 272, 273 (N.Y.
the concept of attempted felony murder presents a logical absurdity. Felony murder differs from murder . . . because the defendant may be found guilty of felony murder even when the killing is unintended. . . . There is no specific requirement of a culpable mental state regarding the homicide; rather, the requisite mental state is supplied by law from the accompanying felony. A.R.S. § 13-1105(B) (providing that felony murder “requires no specific mental state other than what is required for the commission of any of the enumerated felonies”); [State v.] McLoughlin, 139 Ariz.  at 485-86, 679 P.2d  at 50809 [(Ariz. 1984)] (“[T]he mens rea necessary to satisfy the premeditation element of first-degree murder is supplied by the specific intent required for the felony.”). As a result of this fictional transfer, the homicide is deemed in the eyes of the law to have been committed with the traditionally required malice or mental state.
When attempt is attached to felony murder, however, the doctrine becomes nonsensical. Attempt requires intent to commit the target offense. A.R.S. § 13-1001. Therefore, if attempted felony murder were cognizable in Arizona, a defendant would need the specific intent to commit an intended felony that results in an unintended homicide. This is, of course, the reductio ad absurdum, as there can be no criminal offense that requires an attempt to accomplish an unintended result.
require the defendant to intend what is by definition an unintentional result.”).
In sum, an attempt crime must be committed purposely or knowingly and intent to kill need not be proven for the state to obtain a conviction for felony murder, so that a person can be convicted of that offense even though the death was unintended. Thus, this case devolves to an anfractuous question: Can a person be guilty of attempting to cause an unintended death? We conclude that the court of appeals correctly determined that it is impossible to purposely or knowingly cause an unintended death. Accordingly, we hold that attempted felony murder is not a cognizable crime in Ohio.
on one count and an enhanced effective sentence of eight years for the second count.
of or attempt to commit a felony, West Virginia Code § 61-2-10 (2014).
of the presence of specific intent. See Burd, 187 W. Va. at 415, 419 S.E.2d at 676, Syl. Pts.

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