re: Should these college students be charged with murder?

quote:

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What a horrible tragedy brought on by admittedly bad decision. The misguided justice system now takes aim to compound the tragedy by a completely illogical application of a law. I agree these kids need to be punished, but prosecuting them for First Degree Murder (if that is indeed what Felony Murder calls for) seems crazy to me

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It fits the letter of the law, but not really the spirit of the law. The idea is that if you set out to commit a felony and someone dies as a result (fireman if you commit an arson, bystander if you're fleeing the scene of a robbery, etc.) you're just as responsible as if you intended to kill someone. I have no problem with that.

But if you play stupid games and one of your accomplices wins stupid prizes, it's not quite as big a deal. They chose to be in that situation and it should be treated as a cost of doing business.