CRIMINAL LAW-APPLICATION OF MURDER-FELONY DOCTRINE WHERE HOMICIDE WAS THE ACT OF A NON-PARTICIPANT IN THE FELONY

Authors

Edgar A. Strause S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

The appellant and another entered a filling station for the purpose of committing an armed robbery, held up those present, and then separated in search of money after the owner had refused to disclose its location. The unarmed deceased, a friend of the owner, attacked the appellant in an effort to frustrate the robbery. A brief struggle followed during which the deceased obtained possession of the appellant's pistol and struck appellant on the head with it, thereby causing the accidental discharge of the bullet which killed him. The appellant was convicted of murder. On appeal, held, affirmed. The alleged fact that the deceased shot himself during a scuffle after wresting the gun from the appellant was no defense. The appellant's act set in motion the cause which occasioned the death of the deceased; therefore his felonious act was the proximate cause of the homicide. Miers v. State, (Tex. Crim. App. 1952) 251 S.W. (2d) 404.