Felony murder is committed when the actor, acting either alone or with one or more other persons, is engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit robbery, sexual assault, arson, burglary, kidnapping, carjacking, criminal escape or terrorism. If in the commission of this crime or the immediate flight from the commission of the crime, any person causes the death of a person other than one of the participants, all participants are guilty of felony murder. It does not matter that the act which caused death was committed by a co-participant in the crime other than the defendant.
Further, it does not matter if the act which caused death was committed by someone other than a participant in the crime. It also does not matter whether the act which caused death was committed recklessly, intentionally, or negligently. Each participant in the crime, even if a participant did not cause the death in question, would be guilty of felony murder. The same result occurs if the death was the result of the victim’s fear or fright.
A homicide committed by someone other than a participant in the crime must not be too remote, too accidental or too dependent on another person’s voluntary act to justly affect the issue of the defendant’s culpability. New Jersey law recognizes that a death which occurs as a result of self-defense or retaliation may not be so unexpected or unusual that it would be unjust to hold a participant in the crime responsible for the death.
