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Criminal Law Keyed to Kennedy
People v. Cavitt
Citation:
91 P.3d 222 (2004)Facts
Defendants were convicted in separate trials of the felony murder of the stepmother of the girlfriend of one of the defendants. Defendants admitted to plotting with the stepdaughter to enter the victim’s home, to tie her up, and to steal her property. The plan went forward with defendants entering the home, throwing a sheet over the victim’s head and binding it and her with rope and duct tape, beating her and leaving her facedown on the bed, and escaping with guns, jewelry and other valuables.
Before leaving, defendants tied up the stepdaughter to make it appear she was a victim as well. The victim died of asphyxiation. There was ample evidence that defendants were the direct perpetrators of the murder, but there was also evidence that the stepdaughter may have suffocated her stepmother, for independent reasons, after defendants had escaped.
The defendants were convicted of felony murder. They appealed, arguing that nonkillers can be liable for the felony murder committed by another only if the act resulting in death facilitated the commission of the underlying felony.
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