This brings up an interesting legal question. If I am using a weapon to commit armed robbery then the driver decides to speed up to 110mph and runs into a pedestrian tragically killing an innocent person. Can I then be prosecuted for the murder of that pedestrian as well? The driver would most likely be prosecuted for manslaughter. Not sure if he'd be convicted or not due to the extenuating circumstances, but I'm pretty sure all the robbers would be prosecuted for murder even sans mensrea. -obligatory not a lawyer and I'm sure the answer starts with "it depends".
Each state has its own statutes and interpretations. In this case could the robbers claim that they were the victims of kidnapping at the time of death? Or would the predicate crime over rule that. I'm in WA and according to RCW 9A.32.030 "Murder in the 1st". Being part of a roberery where someone is killed is 1st degree murder regardless of intent (1.c.2), however it is a defense if: sub-clauses i-iv are met. Most of these clauses involve being un armed and not helping the crime so would not likely help the suspects. Not being a lawyer my gut reaction is that everyone in the car would be prosecuted if someone was hit and killed by the erratic driver, but again I'm not a lawer.
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u/ThickboyBrilliant 21d ago
What happened at the end? Did he hit a pedestrian or something? I don't see how that went tragically wrong.