Possible defenses include establishing that the defendant was not committing nor attempting to commit a felony when the killing occurred, proving that the defendant has reached a place of temporary safety following the felony before the killing, raising questions about causation if there’s a break in the chain of events leading to death, or invoking a claim of withdrawal from participation before the felony escalates.
For example: If an accomplice withdraws from a robbery before any violence occurs and communicates this withdrawal to his cohorts but a death still occurs later, he might claim he is not liable under the felony-murder rule.