4 face felony murder charges (after their buddy was killed by homeowner during home invasion)

[Ghost in the Machine]

4 face felony murder charges
by GARY HANNER

ST. CLAIR COUNTY — Four males between the ages of 18 to 21 face felony murder charges and another suspect is dead after a reported home invasion/burglary in Moody Feb. 11.

St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell identified the dead man as 19-year-old Robert Joseph Denton of Moody.

Capt. Billy Murray with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department identified the four suspects as Mark Lyle Massey, 19, of Trussville; Richard Allen Holloway, 18, of Leeds; Duel Wayne Pope, 21, of Leeds; and Nicholas Bell, 20, of Trussville.

Three of the four suspects are in the St. Clair County Jail in Pell City while Holloway is in the county jail in Ashville. All four are being held without bond.

Murray said Denton, Massey and Holloway were armed with baseball bats, made entry at a residence in the Trails End community of Moody just before midnight Feb. 11. Murray added that the resident of the home was assaulted but shot and killed Denton during the invasion. The resident suffered non-life threatening injuries.

http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/6247308/article-4-face-felony-murder-charges?instance=home_right

[spin]

1. Don't bring a baseball bat to a gun fight. (n/t)

[X_Digger]

2. Play stupid games..

.. win stupid prizes.

[havocmom]

3. home invaders weilding baseball bats...

it is the human element which makes the implement dangerous. Implements are inert without the human touch. Some humans intend trouble, no matter the implement, I guess.

Glad the resident of the home was able to defend himself.

[SteveM]

4. Thugs ain't rock stars, they just smell that way. One be smellin' worse.nt

[cowman]

5. I'll bet

that these genuises don't try that again, well, at least on genius won't be trying that again

[Tim01]

6. Good. Leave them in jail. nt

[sharesunited]

7. One point awarded for the absence of a gun at inception of the crime.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. Thanks for reducing this young man's death to a game. Mighty classy of you.

:sarcasm:

[TheWraith]

8. Good. Aiding and abetting someone getting themselves killed should carry a penalty.

If not murder, at the very least manslaughter.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

9. I am confused, it's apparently okay to shoot bugler

The resident was beaten but not killed

Murray said Denton, Massey and Holloway were armed with baseball bats, made entry at a residence in the Trails End community of Moody just before midnight Feb. 11. Murray added that the resident of the home was assaulted but shot and killed Denton during the invasion. The resident suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The resident killed the bugler

so you go burgling and you're buddy gets killed by "the resident" then you are charged with your burgle buddy's death ?

:wtf:

[Skittles]

10. bugler

[Ghost in the Machine]

11. Yes, that's a great law...

What's the problem with it? :shrug:

You think they should have walked away free?

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

12. No,but they did not do the shooting

i would assume they would get time for the home invasion and beating the resident. But murder for the death of the criminal buddy seams a stretch.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

16. Their criminal activity led to the death of another human.

That's how it works.

[Euromutt]

13. It is rather an odd interpetation of the law

In broad terms, the law states that if you commit a robbery (and "burglary" strictly speaking means illegally entering a property for the purpose of committing a felony; since the resident was home, in this case that felony was robbery, whereas if the house had been unoccupied, it would have been larceny) and someone dies in the process of the robbery, you have committed first-degree murder. Somewhat counter-intuitively, this is also applied if the person who dies in the process is one of the perpetrators.

I'll admit I'm not wholly on board with that last part. While the perpetrators of a robbery may be reasonably be presumed to have been prepared to inflict violence on the victim(s), and should be held culpable if the victim suffers injury, the robbers presumably were not prepared to have injury inflicted on one of their number.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

15. It's called felony murder. It's a common charge in cases like this.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

17. okay one more question

I am used to, if you break in my house, it is threat to me and I can shoot you.
but this other part is new to me, and these laws do change from state to state.

my shooting the invader is not murder. so there was no murder committed.

or what if one was killed by falling own stairs and breaking their neck?

[JoeyT]

18. This works pretty much the same way as

you and your buddy decide to rob a gas station. He walks in to rob it while you wait in the car. Clerk doesn't cooperate fast enough and your buddy shoots him. You both get charged with 1st degree murder. (And a whole slew of other things for good measure.)
If your criminal actions directly contributed to a murder, you're going to get charged with something, unless you're the homeowner.

In the falling down the stairs example I'm not sure. It would depend on whether the prosecutor thinks he/she could make the charge stick. It might, you never know.
Edited to add: As far as I know it's never come up, but I could actually see it holding up.

[oneshooter]

19. If you shoot, bludgeon, knife,

or in any way cause the death of a home invader it is not murder. However if he
has am accomplices in the crime, he can be charged with the death of his bud. Simply because he was involved in a criminal activity that resulted in death.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Endangered Specie]

20. Pretty much everywhere...

if a group commits a crime, and one of the criminals gets killed, everyone else gets felony murder charges.

As a general rule, whenever you commit a felony, you can be charged with any other happenings that are as a result, since you started the felony, you are 'responsible' for whatever results, such as the death of the victim, or death of one of the perpetrators. If you rob a bank, and someone dies of a heart attack, that is on you too.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

22. This can also be applied to deaths resulting in the pursuit of a man, I believe.

Not too long ago there was a manhunt for some guy. One of those 2AM searches out in the cornfields with tracking dogs and the whole nine yards. An officer was called in from home (out of bed) to aid in the search and died in an auto accident on the way.

After they caught the guy he was charged witht he officers death. Evidently, had there not been a manhunt due to the criminal activity of this guy - the officer would not have died in that auto accident. So the criminal actions of this guy led directly, albeit unintentionally, to the death of a police officer. Felony Murder.

[aliendroid]

23. even if it isn't criminal murder it gets added into the murder statistic

So if you kill a bad guy while he tries to attack you, you just added another 1 to the murder statistic. When you see murder rates, consider this, which is why murder rates are bogus and violent crime rates are more reasonable for comparison.

[SteveM]

21. Yes, it is okay to shoot the "bugler"....

That the burglar died is the risk the thug took. Of course, if someone is being beaten during a home-invasion, the "victim" has every right -- even duty -- to resist with deadly force. That is quite clear.

As to the other thugs, yep, they get charged. These laws have been on the books of many states for many years: if you commit a felonious attack, and someone dies (even a fellow-thug) as a result of that attack, you get the boobie prize: murder charges.
Theory being that the death of the thug is a result of felonious conduct of the thugs. The murderers are the thugs, not the resident who was only trying to protect his life. This is another example of a crime wherein the ACTIONS of thugs are what is illegal, not the implement; bats, guns, or whatever, and NOT the resident.