The felony murder rule is a legal doctrine that expands the definition of murder and makes criminal accomplices (including a lookout or getaway driver) as responsible for a death that occurs in the course of a dangerous felony crime as the person who directly caused the death by pulling the trigger of a gun, stabbing the victim with a knife, strangling the victim, or otherwise causing the victim’s death. Examples of dangerous felony crimes that implicate the felony murder rule include robbery, burglary, rape, aggravated kidnapping, carjacking, and arson.

When the felony murder rule applies, it may make a criminal accomplice liable for murder even if the criminals had agreed that no one would be killed in the course of the crime, and even if it is a fellow criminal who is killed in the course of the crime—such as when a police officer or security guard shoots a bank robber—which may result in all other accomplices to the crime being charged with murder.

In many states the felony murder rule—and any distinctions between the culpability of accomplices and principals to a crime—are located in the state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In New York, the felony murder rule is codified under Section 125.25(3) of the New York Penal Law. This rule establishes that a person is guilty of murder in the second degree when, during the commission of a felony or the immediate flight therefrom, the person or another participant in the crime causes the death of a person other than one of the participants. The underlying felonies typically include robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, rape, and certain other serious crimes. Under this doctrine, all participants in the felony can be held liable for murder if a death occurs, regardless of who actually caused the death. This includes lookouts, getaway drivers, and other accomplices. It is important to note that the felony murder rule applies even if the death was unintentional or accidental, and even if the death is that of a co-felon, such as in a situation where a police officer kills one of the robbers during a crime. The rule is intended to deter individuals from participating in felonies that could foreseeably result in death and to hold all participants accountable when a death does occur.