Court Opinion

ID: 9782559
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 18:57:08.34451+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:05.657545
License: Public Domain

Abbott, J.,
dissenting: The issue facing the court in this case is
whether Sophophone may be legally convicted under the felony-murder statute when he did not pull the trigger and where the victim was one of the co-felons. The majority holds that Sophophone cannot be convicted of felony murder. I dissent.
An analysis of this issue must begin with an examination of the murder statute. K.S.A. 21-3401 provides:
*714“Murder in the first degree is the killing of a human being committed:
“(b) in the commission of, attempt to commit, or flight from an inherently dangerous felony as defined in K.S.A. 21-3436 and amendments thereto.”
When an issue requires statutory analysis and the statute is unambiguous, we are limited by the wording chosen by the legislature. We are not free to alter the statutory language, regardless of the result. In the present case, the felony-murder statute does not require us to adopt the “agency” theory favored by the majority. Indeed, there is nothing in the statute which establishes an agency approach. The statute does not address the issue at all. The requirements, according to the statute, are: (1) there must be a killing, and (2) the killing must be committed in the commission, attempt to commit, or flight from an inherently dangerous felony. The statute simply does not contain the limitations discussed by the majority. There is nothing in K.S.A. 21-3401 which requires us to adopt the agency approach or that requires Sophophone to be the shooter in this case. The facts in this case, in my opinion, satisfy all of the requirements set forth in K.S.A. 21-3401(b).
Moreover, there are sound reasons to adopt the proximate cause approach described in the majority opinion. In State v. Hoang, 243 Kan. 40, 755 P.2d 7 (1988), this court took such an approach, although never referring to it by name. In Hoang, Chief Justice McFarland, writing for the court, discussed at length the requirements of the felony-murder rule in Kansas and stated:
“In felony-murder cases, the elements of malice, deliberation, and premeditation which are required for murder in the first degree are deemed to be supplied by felonious conduct alone if a homicide results. To support a conviction for felony murder, all that is required is to prove that a felony was being committed, which felony was inherently dangerous to human life, and that the homicide which followed was a direct result of the commission of that felony. In a felony-murder case, evidence of who the triggerman is is irrelevant and all participants are principals. [Citations omitted.]
“The puipose of the felony-murder doctrine is to deter all those engaged in felonies from killing negligently or accidentally. . . .
“It is argued in the case before us that felony murder applies only to the deaths of Innocents’ rather than co-felons. There is nothing in our statute on which to base such a distinction. . . .
*715“Dung and Thuong, the decedents herein, were human beings who were killed in the perpetration of a felony. . . . Defendant was an active participant in die felony and present on the scene during all pertinent times. There is nothing in the statute excluding the killing of the co-felons herein from, its application. For this court to exclude the co-felons would constitute judicial amendment of a statute on philosophic rather than legal grounds. This would be highly improper. The legislature has defined felony murder. If this definition is to be amended to exclude the killing of co-felons therefrom under circumstances such as are before us, it is up to the legislature to make such an amendment.” 243 Kan. at 41-42, 45-46. (Emphasis added.)
It is not this court’s prerogative to decide what is and is not felony murder. That is a legislative function.
Hoang was decided in 1988, almost 13 years ago. The legislature has not amended or altered K.S.A. 21-3401 since that time to prevent the felony-murder statute from being used when the victim is a co-felon or where the defendant’s actions are not the immediate cause of the death. The majority states that the decision in this case is not inconsistent with the ruling in Hoang. I disagree. The language in Hoang warns of the dangers of judicial reconstruction and statutory revisionism; however, the majority has taken that approach regardless. Although the facts in Hoang are not identical to the facts in this case, the differences are inconsequential. In my opinion, Hoang is still good law and provides ample justification to apply the felony-murder rule to Sophophone.
The majority in this case points out that the majority of states have adopted the agency approach when faced with the death of a co-felon. They acknowledge, however, that because statutes vary significantly from state to state, reference to a “majority” rule and a “minority” rule is meaningless. Indeed, an in-depth analysis of the current case law in this area leads me to the following conclusions: (1) While a majority of states would agree with the majority opinion in this case, the margin is slim; (2) many of the states that have adopted the so-called “agency” approach have done so because the statutory language in their state requires them to do so; and (3) several of the states that have adopted the “proximate cause” approach have done so because their statutes are silent on the issue, like Kansas.
*716The following courts have used a proximate cause approach instead of following the agency theory adopted by the majority in this case. Several of the following cases also involve factual situations where the co-felon was killed by a police officer, as is the situation in the present case. See State v. Lopez, 173 Ariz. 552, 556, 845 P.2d 478 (Ct. App. 1993) (affirming felony-murder conviction where police officer shot co-felon while defendant was already under arrest by using the proximate cause approach as set forth by Arizona statute); State v. Wright, 379 So.2d 96, 96-97 (Fla. 1980) (holding that there was nothing in the Florida felony-murder statute which limited application to “innocent persons killed” by the defendant); People v. Dekens, 182 Ill. 2d 247, 252, 695 N.E.2d 474 (1998) (Illinois follows the proximate cause theory of felony murder); Jenkins v. State, 726 N.E.2d 268, 269-70 (Ind. 2000) (holding that Indiana felony-murder statute does not require the victim to be “innocent” and that defendant could be convicted of felony murder where robbery victim shot and killed co-felon); Palmer v. State, 704 N.E.2d 124, 125-26 (Ind. 1999) (affirming felony-murder conviction where co-felon was shot by police officer); State v. Baker, 607 S.W.2d 153, 156-57 (Mo. 1980) (affirming conviction where death was a proximate result of the acts of the defendant and his accomplices); State v. Blackmon, 587 S.W.2d 292, 293 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979) (affirming felony-murder conviction where victim was shot by an off-duty police officer); State v. Burton, 130 N.J. Super. 174, 178-79, 325 A.2d 856 (1974) (affirming felony-murder conviction where police killed co-felon during commission of a robbery and where statutory language indicated a preference for the proximate cause approach); In re Leon, 122 R.I. 548, 554-55, 410 A.2d 121 (1980) (taking a proximate cause approach and holding that defendant could be convicted of felony murder where the victim was a co-felon); State v. Oimen, 184 Wis. 2d 423, 435, 516 N.W.2d 399 (1994) (adopting proximate cause approach where co-felon was killed by burglary victim).
Some courts have been forced to take an agency approach because of the statutory language contained within their felony-murder statutes. See Weick v. State, 420 A.2d 159, 161-63 (Del. 1980) (reversing second-degree murder conviction where victim killed *717co-felon because statute requires that “he, with criminal negligence, causes the death of another person”); State v. Jones, 859 P.2d 514, 515 (Okla. Crim. 1993) (taking an agency approach because statute provides that the person committing the felony must “take the life of a human being”); State v. Hansen, 734 P.2d 421, 427 (Utah 1986) (holding that state law precluded second-degree felony-murder conviction where co-felon is killed because language in statute requires the death to be “other than a party” to the crime).
As noted in Hoang, references to cases from other jurisdictions, regardless of the “majority” or “minority” rule, is unnecessary because the statutory language, if unambiguous, should control the outcome. 243 Kan. at 44-46.
In my opinion, our statute is unambiguous and simply does not require the defendant to be the direct cause of the victim’s death, nor does it limit application of the felony-murder rule to the death of “innocents.”
In People v. Lowery, 178 Ill.2d 462, 687 N.E.2d 973 (1997), the Illinois Supreme Court discussed the public policy reasons justifying application of a proximate cause approach, stating:
“It is equally consistent with reason and sound public policy to hold that when a felon’s attempt to commit a forcible felony sets in motion a chain of events which were or should have been within his contemplation when the motion was initiated, he should be held responsible for any death which by direct and almost inevitable sequence results from the initial criminal act. Thus, there is no reason why the principle underlying the doctrine of proximate cause should not apply to criminal cases. Moreover, we believe that the intent behind the felony-murder doctrine would be thwarted if we did not hold felons responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions. [Citations omitted.]” 178 Ill. 2d at 467.
In Sheckles v. State, 684 N.E.2d 201 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997), the Indiana Court of Appeals opined:
“[A] person who commits or attempts to commit one of the offenses designated in the felony-murder statute is criminally responsible for a homicide which results from the act of one who was not a participant in the original criminal activity. Where the accused reasonably should have . . . foreseen that the commission of or attempt to commit the contemplated felony would likely create a situation which would expose another to the danger of death at the hands of a nonparticipant in the felony, and where death in fact occurs as was foreseeable, the creation *718of such a dangerous situation is an intermediary, secondary, or medium in effecting or bringing about the death of the victim.” 684 N.E.2d at 205.
Likewise, the Supreme Court of New Jersey discussed the historical justification for application of the proximate cause rule in felony-murder cases in State v. Martin, 119 N.J. 2, 573 A.2d 1359 (1990), stating:
“More recently, felony murder has been viewed not as a crime of transferred intent, but as one of absolute or strict liability. Whether the offense is viewed as a crime of transferred intent or as one of absolute liability, the continuing justification for the felony-murder rule is that in some circumstances one who commits a felony should be liable for a resulting, albeit unintended, death. Conversely, other deaths are so remotely related to the underlying felony that the actor should not be held culpable for them. Our task is to ascertain the circumstances in which the Legislature has decided that one who commits a felony should also be culpable for a resulting death.
“The historical justification for the rule is that it serves as a general deterrent against the commission of violent crimes. [Citation omitted.] The rationale is that if potential felons realize that they will be culpable as murderers for a death that occurs during the commission of a felony, they will be less likely to commit the felony. From this perspective, the imposition of strict liability without regard to the intent to kill serves to deter the commission of serious crimes.” 119 N.J. at 20.
Here, Sophophone set in motion acts which would have resulted in the death or serious injury of a law enforcement officer had it not been for the highly alert law enforcement officer. This set of events could have very easily resulted in the death of a law enforcement officer, and in my opinion this is exactly the type of case the legislature had in mind when it adopted the felony-murder rule.
The majority has opened a Pandora’s box and left the law grossly unsettled. It does not take much imagination to see a number of situations where a death is going to result from an inherently dangerous felony and the majority’s opinion is going to prevent the accused from being charged with felony murder.
If there is to be a change in the law, it should be by the legislature and not by this court adopting a statutory scheme set forth by the legislatures of other states. I would continue to follow the proximate cause theory of liability for felony murder which holds that criminal liability attaches for any death proximately resulting from *719the unlawful activity notwithstanding the fact that the killing was by one resisting the crime.
I would affirm the conviction based upon the statutory language found in K.S.A. 21-3401, the decision in Hoang, and the cases cited from other jurisdictions.
McFarland, C.J., and Davis, J., join in the foregoing dissenting opinion.