Press Conference on Life Without Parole for Second-Degree Murder In PA

The following is from the report: “The death that occurs related to the felony does not need to be intentional and can be entirely accidental, as when the victim suffers a heart attack during or as a result of the felony. 7 Moreover, the law applies equally to all individuals involved in the event, from the individual, called the principal, who most directly causes the death of the victim, to anyone who participates at any point in the felony. 8 These others, called accomplices, could have stood outside a convenience store as the lookout to a robbery that escalated into a death, driven the “get-away” car, or helped to plan the felony with no idea that a gun or other weapon would be involved.9 This broad definition of “accomplice” further decouples the offense from the intention to cause harm to the victim, much less death – the prosecution must only prove that an individual had intended to participate in the felony, not that they expected it to escalate into the los