Felony Murder

Felony Murder

Felony murder in Georgia applies when a death results from the commission of certain violent felony crimes including arson, burglary, kidnapping, rape, and robbery.

Felony Murder in Georgia

Murder is a highly egregious type of criminal homicide. In Georgia, a conviction for felony murder can result in a sentence of life imprisonment with or without parole, or a death penalty (lethal injection).

In Georgia, a person who commits the act of murder can be charged to have committed malice murder or felony murder.

Felony murder is applicable when someone during the commission of a felony crime kills someone irrespective of malice. This typically applies to situations where the accused is responsible for someones death but did not have the intention of killing them.

Felony Murder - OCGA § 16-5-1

• (a) A person commits the offense of murder when he unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied, causes the death of another human being.
• (b) Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof. Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.
• (c) A person also commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.
• (d) A person convicted of the offense of murder shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, or by imprisonment for life.

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