Question

One night Alvin entered a convenience store intending to Rob. When he entered he shoved a gun in the store clerks face and demanded money. Unbeknownst to Alvin the store clerk had a loaded gun under the cash register. At the moment when Alvin was distracted and looking out the window the clerk pulled the weapon and fired a gunshot in an attempt to scare Alvin. Unfortunately the gunshot hit one of the customers in the store. Which of the following is true?

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Alvin is likely guilty under the proximate cause theory of felony murder

Explanation:

Alvin was committing a crime. When Alvin committed the crime there was an unknown consequence that he did not intend and that was the store clerk shooting an innocent by stander. Nevertheless, Alvin is still responsible for that innocent persons death. Now we have to decide whether its Manslaughter? Felony Murder? We can decide it is Felony Murder as Felony Murder is, "that if a person commits a violent felony and another person dies as a result, then they are guilty of felony murder." Alvin did not commit the act himself so it is not manslaughter. It is Felony Murder and it is under the "Proximate Cause" theory, not the agent theory. The proximate cause theory is when a person dies in the proximity of a crime and its most likely due to that crime, like this case. Meanwhile agent cause is when they are held liable for only deaths done by the criminals themselves, and Alvin did not commit the killing but it was due to his crime. The answer is D.