Opinion ID: 1462254
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of the Felony Murder Doctrine in England

Text: At early common law, a person who caused a death while perpetrating a felony was guilty of murder, regardless of the actual intent of the offender, the dangerousness of the felony or the likelihood that death might result. W. LaFave & A. Scott, Criminal Law 545 (1972). At the time the felony murder rule developed, very few crimes were felonies, and those that were felonies were punishable by death; therefore, it made no difference whether a person was sentenced to death for the homicide or for the underlying felony. See Commonwealth v. Redline, 391 Pa. 486, 494, 137 A.2d 472, 476 (1958); W. LaFave & A. Scott, supra, at 546 n. 4. For this reason, the felony murder rule went unchallenged during the early part of its history. People v. Aaron, 409 Mich. 672, 695-96, 299 N.W.2d 304, 310 (1980). As the common law developed, many more crimes became felonies, and many of these, such as tax evasion, larceny, and embezzlement, were not violent and did not involve a likelihood of causing death. W. LaFave & A. Scott, supra, at 545-46. Nevertheless, the common law felony murder doctrine imputed an intent to murder if a homicide occurred, even accidentally, during the perpetration of any of these felonies. Id. By the nineteenth century, English commentators were criticizing the felony murder rule as too severe, see People v. Aaron, supra, 409 Mich. at 697, 299 N.W.2d at 309-12, and English case law was restricting the rule. Id., 299 N.W.2d at 311-12. Finally, in 1957, England abolished the felony murder rule. English Homicide Act, 1957, 5 and 6, Eliz. 2, c. 11, § 1.