Under either scenario, Joe is guilty.

That's not required. Danny died while trying to escape. If Joe had just let him go, his lawyer could argue the crime was over (assuming Danny died after escaping). But he can't claim the crime was completed while Joe was chasing him.

Indeed, the chase should be presented by the prosecutor as an attempted kidnapping. That is also a felony specified in the felony murder statute. That's even clearer than the lewd acts statute, so you just dug the hole a little deeper for Joe.

Made you look!

Seriously? You've obviously never met a prosecutor.

Before I retired, I practiced as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. Whenever a victim has died, prosecutors go straight to the murder statute. Especially the felony murder statute, because you don't need to prove intent.

Joe would certainly be charged with murder, even if the plan was to get him to plea to a lesser offense. And the jury is going to hate his guts, so he'd be convicted unless the DA decided to show him leniency.



Made you look!

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Is Joe REALLY a pedophile - or merely a closet homosexual who was grooming the 12 year old boy (close to puberty) for a homosexual relationship as the boy matured?

There are many examples of such behavior like this one:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/nj_man_claims_he_was_sexually.html

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Stocks

Like the Catholic Priest "pedophile" scandals - the vast majority of newly "discovered" Boy Scout sexual abuse scandals are almost totally homosexual abuse of boys either close to puberty and/or just past puberty and often continue as the "boy" actually matures well into puberty - which by definition is no longer "pedophilia".

Just to be clear: Charles Manson was sentenced by the jury to die. Later, the courts ruled that California's death penalty law was too vague and arbitrary, and overturned death sentences in the state.

Manson's sentence was reduced to life when the California Supreme Court held that he could not be re-sentenced to death after the constitutional defects were fixed.

Made you look!

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The rule can be harsh. It can produce harsh sentences that are disproportionate to the crime. That doesn't mean that the felony murder rule doesn't exist. I'm a retired attorney with experience as a defense attorney and a prosecutor. I'm not making this up.

The facts could support convictions for lewd acts with a child and attempted kidnapping. Both are predicate offenses in the felony murder statute.

Made you look!

That doesn't matter.

Sometimes victims are accidentally killed escaping and sometimes they are accidentally killed by rescuers. Both are risks assumed by the perpetrator of a predicate felony. If you attempt to commit or are engaged in committing one of those felonies, you are automatically responsible if someone dies.

Made you look!