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13. Which of the following is correct?
The man and woman were charged with murder of the customer.
In a jurisdiction that has abolished the felony-murder rule, but otherwise follows the common law of murder, a man and woman, both armed with automatic weapons, went into a bank to rob it. The man ordered all the persons in the bank to lie on the floor. When some were slow to obey, the woman, not intending to hit anyone, fired about 15 rounds into the air. One of these ricocheted off a stone column and struck and killed a customer in the bank.
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Manslaughter is a killing committed with recklessness or criminal negligence, or during the commission of an unlawful act. The term «criminal negligence» essentially describes a defendant's simultaneous understanding and disregard of a substantial risk of harm. This is a lesser degree of homicide than murder.
An accomplice is one who aids or abets another in a criminal act or enterprise, with the intent to encourage the commission of the crime. Mere presence at a crime scene is not enough; there must be some assistance. An accomplice is liable for the original crime and other foreseeable crimes committed by the principal in furtherance of the crime.
D is correct. The woman's act of firing an automatic weapon in an occupied bank demonstrates the reckless indifference necessary to show malice aforethought. Accordingly, the woman can be convicted of murder. The man is the woman's accomplice because he aided the woman in the robbery, with the intent to encourage the commission of the robbery. It was foreseeable that entering into a bank to rob it with loaded guns could result in firing those guns and killing someone. Therefore, the man can also be convicted of murder under accomplice liability. Although there is no felony murder liability in this jurisdiction, both the woman and the man can be convicted of murder.
A is incorrect. The man was the woman's accomplice because he aided the woman in the robbery, with the intent to encourage the commission of the robbery. Accordingly, the man can also be convicted of murder because it was a foreseeable crime.
B is incorrect. The man and woman's actions of entering a bank with automatic weapons with the intent to rob the bank, and the woman's subsequent shooting of 15 rounds into the air, are sufficient to demonstrate a reckless indifference to an unjustified risk of human life.
C is incorrect. Here, the woman can be convicted of murder, not just manslaughter, because her actions rose to the level of malice, as required for a conviction of murder. This answer is also incorrect because it does not account for the man's accomplice liability. The man aided the woman in the robbery, with the intent to encourage the commission of the robbery. An accomplice is liable for the original crime and other foreseeable crimes committed by the principal in furtherance of the crime.