felony-murder

58 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6630 In Re Anthony Tyrone Campbell, Sr. 2026-01-20 Pending IFP constitutional-rights due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus penal-code senate-bill-775 Whether a newly enacted California law (Senate Bill 775) affects a petitioner's prior attempted murder conviction under felony murder theory, and whet…
25-6472 Roberto Lopez-Ortiz v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2026-01-02 Pending Response WaivedIFP criminal-offense direct-review due-process felony-murder retroactive-application substantive-change Whether a substantive change to a criminal offense must apply retroactively to a defendant on direct review when the change abolishes the offense for …
25-6135 Sonya Fuller v. Georgia Georgia 2025-11-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-and-abetting criminal-conviction due-process felony-murder jackson-standard sufficiency-of-evidence Whether a conviction for felony murder is permissible under Jackson where the prosecution presented no evidence that the defendant planned, knew about…
25-5797 Leigha Page Ackerson v. Colorado Colorado 2025-10-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure felony-murder legislative-amendment life-without-parole proportionality-review sentencing Whether the procedure to affirm an LWOP sentence for felony murder under Senate Bill 21-124 is in the interest of justice despite non-retroactive amen…
25A302 Sonya Fuller v. Georgia Georgia 2025-09-16 Presumed Complete constitutional-review criminal-conviction felony-murder jackson-standard reasonable-doubt sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the standard for reviewing the sufficiency of evidence under Jackson v. Virginia permits a conviction to be upheld when the evidence is acknow…
25-279 Matthew Wood v. New Mexico New Mexico 2025-09-10 Denied Response Waived criminal-sentencing due-process eighth-amendment felony-murder fourteenth-amendment proportionality Where a defendant is not convicted of the predicate offense, does a conviction for first-degree felony murder comport with due process under the Fourt…
24-7346 Seaga Edward Gillard v. North Carolina North Carolina 2025-06-03 Denied IFP capital-punishment criminal-sentencing death-penalty felony-murder jury-instructions supreme-court-precedent Whether the Supreme Court of North Carolina violated Supreme Court precedent regarding jury instructions for death sentences in felony murder cases in…
24-941 Wayne Sellers, IV v. Colorado Colorado 2025-03-03 Denied Response Waived diminished-culpability eighth-amendment felony-murder life-without-parole mandatory-sentencing penological-goals Whether a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for felony murder, imposed on a defendant who did not kill or inte…
24A595 Wayne Sellers, IV v. Colorado Colorado 2024-12-17 Presumed Complete criminal-culpability eighth-amendment felony-murder life-without-parole proportionality youth-sentencing Whether the Eighth Amendment prohibits a mandatory life sentence without parole for a felony murder defendant who did not kill or intend to kill and w…
24-5111 Amadi Sosa v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2024-07-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof confrontation-clause constructive-malice cross-examination due-process felony-murder perjury-protocol sixth-amendment winship-fact Due-process-right-to-fair-trial,confrontation-clause,perjury-protocol,felony-murder,burden-of-proof,winship-fact
24-5040 Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-07-10 Denied Relisted (2)IFP attempted use but can be committed by accidental means or by fa has as an element the use or threatened use of physical force bodily-injury crime-of-violence felony-murder force-clause mens-rea modified-categorical-approach physical-force premeditated-murder use-of-force Whether a crime that requires proof of bodily injury or death, but can be committed by accidental means or by failing to take action, has as an elemen…
24-5029 Jurgen Marku v. Florida Florida 2024-07-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP Bruton-v-United-States Codefendant confrontation-clause criminal-prosecution Cross-Examination Due-Process felony-murder fourteenth-amendment Guilty-Plea sixth-amendment Whether it is a violation of a criminal defendant's Confrontation-Clause
23A1035 Dedric Dixon v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2024-05-21 Presumed Complete constitutional-rights criminal-procedure double-jeopardy felony-murder ineffective-assistance jury-verdicts Whether a criminal defendant's constitutional rights are violated when he is convicted of felony murder after being acquitted of intentional murder ba…
23-7251 In Re Raynada Jones 2024-04-18 Denied IFP constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder jurisdiction magistrate probable-cause subject-matter-jurisdiction Whether petitioner is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States
23-5431 Bryan K. Brown v. Ron Neal, Warden, et al. Seventh Circuit 2023-08-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP access-to-courts civil-rights constitutional-rights court-of-appeals due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus prison-law-library strickland-standard strickland-test Whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the Defendant's negligent actions did not violate the Plaintiff's constitutional right to access th…
23-5336 Maurice Walker v. Nicholas Lamb, Warden Eighth Circuit 2023-08-10 Denied IFP constitutional-rights due-process felony-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-counsel jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct reasonable-doubt Did the trial court err in applying the felony murder rule and submitting an incomplete jury verdict that violated the defendant's due process rights?
22-6624 Daniel Ray Loyd v. Neil McDowell, Warden Ninth Circuit 2023-01-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder felony-murder-rule ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instructions prejudice right-to-counsel state-law-error Whether trial counsel was ineffective by conceding Mr. Loyd's guilt of all charges, including robbery in a felony murder case
22-5982 Richard Allen Jackson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-11-03 Denied IFP categorical-approach crime-of-violence criminal-law divisibility divisibility-analysis federal-statutes felony-murder first-degree-murder schad-v-arizona statutory-interpretation violent-crime Is federal first-degree murder, 18 U.S.C. § 1(a), a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A)?
22-5942 David G. Wiggins v. Mark Brnovich, Attorney General of Arizona, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-10-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-law due-process felony-murder fourteenth-amendment sixth-amendment statutory-interpretation Whether the Felony Murder Statute as applied to the Petitioner is unconstitutional, denying his rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments
22-5891 Kevin B. Burns v. Tony Mays, Warden Sixth Circuit 2022-10-24 Denied Amici (1)Relisted (7)IFP capital-punishment capital-sentencing felony-murder ineffective-assistance moral-culpability residual-doubt sentencing state-law strickland-v-washington Whether an ineffective assistance claim may be based on counsel's failure to exercise a state-law right to introduce residual doubt evidence at a capi…
21-6851 Joel Quiles v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2022-01-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP acquittal constitutional-rights criminal-conviction double-jeopardy due-process felony-murder fifth-amendment first-degree-murder trial-procedure Did the defendant's conviction for first degree felony murder violate his constitutional right against double jeopardy?
21-6367 Dacoby Reshard Wooten v. Florida Florida 2021-11-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP alternative-theories criminal-procedure felony-murder first-degree-murder jury-unanimity premeditated-murder sixth-amendment Whether the Sixth Amendment requires jury unanimity as to whether a defendant committed premeditated murder or felony murder when the state proceeds o…
21-6138 Armando B. Cortinas, Jr. v. Jo Gentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2021-11-01 Denied IFP Brecht-v-Abrahamson confession constitutional-error federal-habeas federal-review felony-murder habeas-corpus harmless-error premeditation-and-deliberation section-2254 state-court-decision Whether the state court's harmless error determination was unreasonable under 28-U.S.C-2254(d)(1)-and-(2)
21-5656 Omar Cebrero v. Rosemary Ndoh, Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-09-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-conviction due-process felony-murder jackson-v-virginia jury-finding major-participant special-circumstance sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the state court's determination that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's special circumstance finding that Petitioner was a 'm…
21-5391 Jermontae Moss v. Georgia Georgia 2021-08-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment family-violence felony-murder juvenile-justice juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole miller-v-alabama mitigating-factors sentencing sentencing-discretion Does a court violate Miller when it refuses to consider childhood trauma as mitigating when sentencing a child to life without parole?
21-176 David J. Tatara v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2021-08-06 Denied Response Waived criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus judgment-of-acquittal mens-rea superseding-information Does a conviction of a crime submitted to the jury through a superseding information filed after jeopardy attached and after the court granted judgmen…
20-7955 Alton D. Pelichet v. Wayne Circuit Court Judge, et al. Michigan 2021-05-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment 6th-amendment actual-innocence due-process equal-protection felony-murder fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance-of-counsel sixth-amendment Whether Petitioner was denied his right to a fair trial, due process and equal protection
20-7400 Drashawn Bartlett v. Anna Valentine, Warden Sixth Circuit 2021-03-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2253 double-jeopardy felony-murder fifth-amendment harris-precedent harris-v-oklahoma robbery sixth-circuit Can the offense of robbery be included as an element in a felony murder instruction and also presented separately in a jury instruction for robbery wi…
20-7391 Marcus A. Turner v. David W. Gray, Warden Sixth Circuit 2021-03-09 Denied IFP constitutional-rights double-jeopardy due-process felony-murder fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance-of-counsel strickland-standard Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause bars a second prosecution and punishment for Felony-murder and Felonious-assault following an acquittal on Aggravat…
20-7315 Ursula Owens v. Ohio Ohio 2021-03-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-violation criminal-law due-process felony-murder jury-determination mens-rea merger-doctrine reckless-homicide strict-liability Is Ohio's felony murder statute, and Petitioner's conviction and 15-years-to-life sentence thereunder, unconstitutional in violation of the Fifth, Six…
20-7280 Michael Dewayne Vickers v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-03-01 GVR Relisted (2)IFP armed-career-criminal-act circuit-split due-process federal-courts felony-murder physical-force state-court-interpretation statutory-interpretation violent-felony Whether a federal court is bound by a state supreme court's interpretation of a statute of conviction for Armed Career Criminal Act purposes
20-6385 Jason D. Devers v. Nebraska Nebraska 2020-11-19 Denied Relisted (2)IFP constitutional-claims conviction-of-sole-participant criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance pinkerton-doctrine post-conviction-relief state-court-review sufficiency-of-evidence trial-attorney-affidavit Did the State of Nebraska commit error when it convicted the defendant of felony murder using the Pinkerton doctrine when there is no principal and th…
20-665 Damon B. Cook v. George M. Galaza, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-11-13 Denied abuse-of-discretion civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel reasonable-doubt rule-60(b)(6) sentencing Whether the petitioner Damon C. Cook had a constitutional right to a certificate of appealability
20-6269 Gilbert Montrez Gardner v. Maryland Maryland 2020-11-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP case-review certiorari court-of-appeals felony-murder legal-remand mens-rea robbery rosemond-precedent rosemond-v-united-states sufficiency-of-evidence supreme-court-review Whether the Court of Appeals of Maryland erred in affirming the petitioner's conviction for felony murder when the evidence was insufficient to establ…
20-6116 Terry Joseph Wernicke, Jr. v. Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, et al. California 2020-10-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment felony-murder juvenile-offender life-sentence parole Whether the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits the imposition of a life sentence without the possibility of paro…
20-5883 Kyle Patrick Comrie v. California California 2020-10-01 Denied IFP burden-of-proof constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder jury-findings jury-instructions reasonable-doubt sandstrom sufficiency-of-evidence Did the trial court permit prejudicial error by allowing the jury to find first-degree murder without specific findings of fact on each required eleme…
19-8119 Walter E. Williams v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections Florida 2020-03-27 Denied Relisted (2)IFP constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-conviction criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process essential-element felony-murder judicial-review jury-instruction standing Whether the conviction for a crime without proof of an essential element of that crime violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
19-8088 Antonio Rodrigues v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2020-03-24 Denied IFP constitutional-due-process criminal-element due-process felony-murder judicial-determination judicial-fact-finding maximum-sentence predicate-felony sentencing sufficiency-of-evidence trial-evidence Does the Constitution prohibit a State to define a crime to include an element that is to be decided by a judge without evidence; and where the State …
19-7653 Roosevelt Bigbee, Jr. v. Jonathan Lebo, Warden Tennessee 2020-02-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP 5th-amendment constructive-amendment conviction criminal-attempt criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder indictment plea-agreement robbery statute testimony Whether the admission of the Plea agreement testimony evidence, of felony murder in the perpetuation of a robbery violated Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-12-101…
19-7343 Anthony Tawon Williams v. Hilton Hall, Warden Georgia 2020-01-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law due-process felony-murder homicide homicide-rule sentencing underlying-felony voluntary-manslaughter Can voluntary manslaughter or any other homicide be used as an underlying felony to support felony murder?
19-5893 Melissa Pfeiffer v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2019-09-10 Denied IFP conscious-disregard-for-risk criminal-law felony-murder inherent-dangerousness inherently-dangerous inherently-dangerous-felony judicial-determination judicial-fact-finding jury-instructions malice-aforethought massachusetts-law presumption-of-malice sentencing Whether the judge or the jury decides the issue of intent in a second-degree felony murder case where the underlying felony is inherently dangerous as…
19-5756 In Re James Bryant 2019-08-29 Denied Relisted (2)IFP civil-rights constitutional-review criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder felony-murder-doctrine-retroactivity habeas-corpus habeas-corpus-jurisdiction jurisdiction retroactive-application retroactivity subject-matter-jurisdiction vagueness Whether the state trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction by convicting Petitioner in 1971 under a vague first-degree murder statute
19-5020 Khaleefa Lambert v. Darren Settles, Acting Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-07-01 Denied IFP criminal-procedure felony-murder ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel murder-conviction prejudice premeditated-murder reasonable-jury sixth-amendment standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence trial-counsel Did the Sixth Circuit err in denying Petitioner's claim that his trial counsel's performance was so deficient as to prejudice the outcome of the trial…
18-9761 John Givens v. Illinois Illinois 2019-06-24 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP constitutional-rights criminal-liability cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process felony-murder irrebuttable-presumption mental-state proximate-cause third-party-liability Whether Illinois' proximate cause theory of liability for felony murder violates the Due Process Clauses and the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause
18-9541 Darius Leigh Gilkey v. DeWayne Burton, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-06-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 6th-amendment adequate-provocation attorney-client-relations attorney-client-relationship consensual-sex criminal-law due-process felony-murder homicide provocation right-to-counsel sixth-amendment Should this Court grant Certiorari to determine if consensual sex that later turned into a homicide, resulting from adequate provocation amounts to fe…
18-9483 Brian Alford v. Dwight Neven, Warden, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-05-30 Denied IFP burglary burglary-allegation constitutional-law criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder legal-sufficiency probable-cause prosecution-standard sufficiency-of-evidence Whether it is permissible for a state criminal court to predicate felony murder liability on an allegation of burglary that lacks sufficient bases in …
18-8567 Rohan McDermott v. J. Soto, Warden Ninth Circuit 2019-03-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence certificate-of-appealability due-process evidentiary-exclusion felony-murder habeas-corpus post-conviction-relief post-trial-confession standard-of-review Did the panel so clearly misapprehend section 2253's modest standard as to call for summary reversal?
18-8251 Zachariah Joel Peterson v. Jay Cassady, Warden Eighth Circuit 2019-03-04 Denied IFP certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure due-process eighth-circuit felony-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel insufficient-evidence jury-instruction jury-instructions standard-of-review Whether the Eighth Circuit court of Appeals abused its discretion in denying petitioner a COA on his claim on insufficient evidence
18-8219 Jose J. Hernandez v. M. Eliot Spearman, Warden Ninth Circuit 2019-03-01 Denied IFP appeal civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence felony-murder ineffective-assistance newly-presented standing Did appellate counsel render ineffective assistance
18-7714 Anthony Grandison v. Maryland Maryland 2019-02-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP blockburger-test common-law-murder commutation cumulative-punishment double-jeopardy double-jeopardy-clause due-process felony-murder handgun-use jury-instructions legislative-intent merger-of-offenses non-merger-rule prosecutorial-discretion required-evidence-test sentencing statutory-construction statutory-offenses Whether the Maryland Court of Appeals erred in holding...
18-7523 Charles James v. Jeffrey Krueger, Warden Eighth Circuit 2019-01-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights due-process equal-protection felony-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions retroactivity statutory-interpretation Whether the Iowa state court decision in State v. Heemstra, that it is an interpretation of the statute, is contrary to the decision in State v. Goosm…
18-6801 Van McDuffy v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-11-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP accidental-killing bank-robbery criminal-law criminal-statute felony-murder intent mandatory-minimum mandatory-sentencing mens-rea sentencing statutory-interpretation What intent, if any, beyond the intent to commit bank robbery, is required to sustain a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(e), which imposes a mandator…
18-679 Erick Virgil Hall v. Idaho Idaho 2018-11-23 Denied Amici (1) aggravating-circumstances capital-punishment capital-sentencing constitutional-standards death-penalty felony-murder heinous-atrocious-cruel jury-sentencing narrowing-requirement propensity-to-commit-murder sentencing-guidance utter-disregard Whether certain of the 'aggravating circumstances' used by Idaho to determine whether a defendant may be sentenced to death—those that ask whether the…
18-6635 Eddie Hampton v. California California 2018-11-08 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error felony-murder first-degree-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions murder natural-and-probable-consequence natural-probable-consequence prejudice-standard premeditated-murder standard-of-prejudice Where she jury was erroneously instrycted on (a) Murder as a natural and presbable consequence per peopie vs chiu 39 cal 4th $35 172 cad Rotr 3d 438 3…
18-6414 Marvin K. Locke v. Daniel Paramo, Warden Ninth Circuit 2018-10-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP common-law constitutional-interpretation criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus ninth-circuit procedural-default second-successive-petition standing statutory-interpretation Whether the second-degree felony murder rule is based on statute
18-6058 Donald Lee Reeves, III v. California California 2018-09-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process fair-trial felony-murder insufficient-evidence intent robbery special-circumstance Whether petitioner's due process right to a fair trial was violated
18-5948 Patrick Henry Murphy v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2018-09-12 Denied IFP conspiracy criminal-conspiracy death-penalty death-penalty-sentencing eighth-amendment enmund-v-florida-tison-v-arizona felony felony-murder jury-findings sentencing-requirements sixth-amendment Does the Sixth or Eighth Amendment require that before a party may be sentenced to death as a conspirator (rather than a trigger-person), the jury mus…
18-5239 Deshawn T. Terrell v. Ohio Ohio 2018-07-16 Denied Amici (1)IFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment felony-murder fourteenth-amendment juvenile-sentencing mandatory-minimums mandatory-sentencing miller-graham-precedent Does the mandatory sentencing provision for the offense of felony murder under Ohio Revised Code § 2929.02(B)(1) violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Ame…