Opinion ID: 72029
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicability of the Federal Felony Murder Statute to the Death of a Coconspirator.

Text: 34 In his final challenge to the sentence imposed by the district court, Appellant Tham argues that the federal felony-murder statute represents an imperfect analog to the crime for which he was convicted because the felony-murder statute has no application to the accidental, self-induced death of a coconspirator. 5 The relevance of the decedent's participation in the underlying felony to the application of the federal felony murder statute presents an issue of first impression within this Circuit. The issue has been squarely confronted by two of our sister circuits, however, and each has concluded that the statute applies to situations in which an arsonist's accomplice dies during the commission of the underlying felony. See United States v. Martinez, 16 F.3d 202, 207 (7th Cir.1994) (The better rule, hence the one we would hope to see adopted in cases under the federal felony murder statute, is that the death of a felon, whether by his own hand or that of another felon, in the course of any of the felonies (including arson) listed in the statute, is a felony murder.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 886, 115 S.Ct. 226, 130 L.Ed.2d 152 (1994); United States v. El-Zoubi, 993 F.2d 442, 449 (5th Cir.1993) (The language of § 1111 is broad enough to include cases in which an arsonist's accomplice dies during the commission of the felony.). Moreover, a host of state courts have reached the same conclusion with regard to interpretation of their state felony murder statutes. See, e.g., Mikenas v. State, 367 So.2d 606, 608-09 (Fla.1978) (per curiam); Howard v. State, 545 So.2d 352, 354 (Fla.App.1989); Scott v. State, 252 Ga. 251, 251-52, 313 S.E.2d 87, 88 (1984); State v. Hoang, 243 Kan. 40, 42-46, 755 P.2d 7, 9-11 (1988); State v. Morran, 131 Mont. 17, 35-36, 306 P.2d 679, 689 (1957); State v. Sotteriou, 132 N.J.Super. 403, 334 A.2d 47, 50 (1975); Commonwealth v. Bolish, 381 Pa. 500, 113 A.2d 464, 470-75 (1955), overruled on other grounds by Commonwealth ex rel. Shadd v. Myers, 423 Pa. 82, 223 A.2d 296 (1966); In re Leon, 122 R.I. 548, 554-55, 410 A.2d 121, 125 (1980). On the other hand, some state courts distinguish between the case in which the accidental death of the felon is self-inflicted and the case in which he is killed by a cofelon, reasoning that the first case does not involve a homicide at all and so cannot be the basis of a charge of felony murder. State v. Perez, 382 So.2d 731, 733 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1980) (per curiam); People v. Antick, 15 Cal.3d 79, 90-92, 123 Cal.Rptr. 475, 482-83, 539 P.2d 43, 50-51 (1975); People v. La Barbera, 159 Misc. 177, 180-81, 287 N.Y.S. 257, 262-63 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1936). As we perceive no principled basis for this distinction, we concur with those courts that hold a felony murder conviction may be predicated upon the death of a coparticipant that results from commission of an enumerated felony, without regard to whether the death was in some sense self-inflicted. 35 As an initial matter, the text of the federal felony murder statute provides not the slightest indication that Congress intended to restrict its application to cases in which nonparticipants perish as a result of the commission of the felony. To the contrary, the statute flatly proscribes the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. 18 U.S.C. § 1111. The language of the statute sweeps broadly enough to encompass the situation in which an arsonist's accomplice dies as a result of the commission of the felony since culpability for the underlying arson imbues any resulting death with malice aforethought. See El-Zoubi, 993 F.2d at 449. 36 The interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 1111 that we adopt has the added virtue of promoting the policy rationale most frequently associated with the felony murder rule. Although often skeptical of the wisdom of the felony murder rule, courts and commentators generally agree that the rule was conceived to deter the commission of certain dangerous felonies. See, e.g., People v. Washington, 62 Cal.2d 777, 781, 44 Cal.Rptr. 442, 445, 402 P.2d 130, 133 (1965) (noting that the original purpose of the felony-murder rule was to deter felons from killing negligently or accidentally by holding them strictly liable for the killings that are the result of the felony or an attempted one); Jenkins v. State, 230 A.2d 262, 268-69 (Del.1967) (The only rational function of the felony-murder rule is to furnish an added deterrent to the perpetration of felonies which, by their very nature or by the attendant circumstances, create a foreseeable risk of death.); State v. Hoang, 243 Kan. 40, 42, 755 P.2d 7, 8 (1988) (The purpose of the felony-murder doctrine is to deter all those engaged in felonies from killing negligently or accidentally.); Cole, supra, at 98 (The most common defense of the felony-murder rule has rested on deterrence notions.); James J. Tomkovicz, The Endurance of the Felony-Murder Rule: A Study of the Forces That Shape Our Criminal Law, 51 Wash. & Lee L.Rev. 1429, 1448-49 (1994) (The primary justification offered for the contemporary felony-murder rule is deterrence. ). The felony-murder rule not only deters felons from killing during crime, but also deters potential felons from committing the predicate offense in the first place. Martinez, 16 F.3d at 207; Cole, supra, at 110. Society reaps these deterrent benefits anytime punishment is imposed for a death that foreseeably results from commission of a felony. See Paul H. Robinson, Imputed Criminal Liability, 93 Yale L.J. 609, 665 (1984) (recognizing that punishing any killing that foreseeably results from commission of a felony serves the purpose of general deterrence by deterring other felons or at least by making other felons more careful to avoid the risks of causing death). Punishment imposed for the death of a cofelon may deter future dangerous felonies to the same extent as punishment imposed for the death of our most valued citizen. 37 Moreover, we think it worth noting that the deterrent effects of a felony-murder rule that penalizes cofelon killings redound, at least partially, to the benefit of the general public. A reduction in the number of dangerous felonies committed will save lives indiscriminately, sparing the innocent citizen and the potential felon alike. Consequently, even if we assume the legislature would not be terribly concerned about safeguarding potential felons from dangers that spring from their own malicious designs, a legislature convinced of the utility of the felony-murder rule quite logically might opt to pursue maximal deterrence by applying the rule every time death results. 6 Consistent with the text of the federal felony murder statute, and in the absence of any contrary indication, we conclude this is precisely the route that Congress selected. 38 In an effort to avoid this result, Appellant Tham vests almost complete reliance in United States v. Schwanke, 598 F.2d 575 (10th Cir.1979). As will be seen, that reliance is misplaced. The Schwanke court construed a sentence enhancement provision contained in a prior version of the federal arson statute, 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). Based on the language of similar enhancement provisions in related statutory sections, the court concluded that § 844(i) seemed to contemplate prohibition of harm to another person and not self-injury. Id. at 579. The Schwanke court therefore held that Congress did not contemplate enhancing the penalty under § 844(i) when the only injured party was the indicted defendant standing trial. Id. at 578. 39 The Schwanke court also suggested in dicta that even an injury suffered by a coconspirator would not trigger application of the sentence enhancement provision. Id. at 579. Drawing upon state court precedent from the felony murder context, the court reasoned: 40 It would not be seriously contended that one accidentally killing himself while engaged in the commission of a felony was guilty of murder. If the defendant ... is guilty of murder because of the accidental killing of his coconspirator, then it must follow that [the deceased coconspirator] was also guilty of murder, and, if he had recovered from his burns, that he would have been guilty of an attempt to commit murder. 41 Id. (quoting People v. Ferlin, 203 Cal. 587, 596-97, 265 P. 230, 234-35 (1928)). The court therefore announced it was not inclined to attribute to Congress an enhancement of the penalty where the only injury is to the criminal himself, or to his coconspirator. Id. at 579. 42 We need not address the scope or soundness of the Schwanke decision, however, because the present case involves issues that are distinct from those decided by the Tenth Circuit. Most prominently, the Schwanke case involved construction of a sentence enhancement provision in a prior version of the federal arson statute, whereas the present case concerns interpretation of the federal felony murder statute and a cross-referencing provision in the arson sentencing guideline. See Martinez, 16 F.3d at 207 (distinguishing Schwanke on this basis). In addition, unlike the situation in Schwanke, Appellant Tham's sentence has not been enhanced based on an injury he inflicted upon himself. To the contrary, Appellant Tham has been sentenced by reference to the first-degree murder sentencing guideline because he bears criminal responsibility for a felony that resulted in the death of another. 43 To the extent that statements in Schwanke may be interpreted as an endorsement of the view that the felony murder rule cannot be applied when the underlying felony causes the death of a coparticipant, we decline to adopt that dicta as the law of this Circuit. As previously discussed, the text of the federal felony-murder statute, interpretive authority from two other circuits, and the dominant rationale underlying the felony-murder rule all dictate that the felony murder statute would apply whenever death results from perpetration of an enumerated felony, without regard to the decedent's status as a coparticipant. We perceive no justification for concluding, as the California Supreme Court evidently did in People v. Ferlin, that unless each participant in a felonious undertaking can be deemed criminally responsible for the death of another, none of them can be. In the context of the present case, even though Tony Tham was not criminally responsible for the death of another during perpetration of the arson, no reason is apparent why we should indulge the fiction that Andy Tham--by virtue of his status as a cofelon--cannot be considered criminally responsible for the death of another either. Although Tony Tham was a participant in the arson of the Fortune Garden restaurant, he was another relative to Andy Tham so his death may serve as a predicate for application of the federal felony-murder statute. 7