felony-murder

59 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6862 Martez Abram v. Mississippi Mississippi 2026-02-20 Pending IFP aggravating-circumstances arson capital-punishment eighth-amendment felony-murder sufficient-evidence 1. Was the application of Mississippi's felony-murder aggravating factor and circumstance sufficient to meet the mandate of the Eighth Amendment to me…
25-6630 In Re Anthony Tyrone Campbell, Sr. 2026-01-20 Denied IFP constitutional-rights due-process felony-murder habeas-corpus penal-code senate-bill-775 (1) In light of a newly post conviction law, as established under California Senate Hill Vo. 775, could petitioner lawfully remain convicted of an a…
25-6472 Roberto Lopez-Ortiz v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2026-01-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-offense direct-review due-process felony-murder retroactive-application substantive-change Roberto Lopez -Ortiz is serving life in prison for an offense that no longer exist s. He fully preserve d his challenge to second -degree felony -murd…
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 1. Whether the procedure to affirm an LWOP sentence for felony murder once the Felony Murder bill 21-124 became effective is in the interest of jus…
25A302 Sonya Fuller v. Georgia Georgia 2025-09-16 Presumed Complete constitutional-review criminal-conviction felony-murder jackson-standard reasonable-doubt sufficiency-of-evidence Question not identified.
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 this Court's precedent when it held that a jury instruction requiring a finding of culpability un…
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 Petitioner received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for felony murder. He was twenty years old at the time…
24A595 Wayne Sellers, IV v. Colorado Colorado 2024-12-17 Presumed Complete criminal-culpability eighth-amendment felony-murder life-without-parole proportionality youth-sentencing Question not identified.
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 1. In a joint trial on a joint venture murder charge, the trial judge implemented a state protocol that enabled one co-defendant to give perjured test…
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 Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A), a felony qualifies as a "crime of violence" if it "has as an element the use, at-tempted use, or threatened use of phy…
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 and Due Process Clause rights to allow the prosecution to inform the jury tha…
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 Question not identified.
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 WHERE, THE INGHAM COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT WAS …
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 The Court of Appeals opinion substantially departs from law and practice by finding that the Defendant's actions, which the court deemed "negligent", …
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 1) In this case the Uniform (Iowa) Jury Instructions were used and presented to the Jury, where Felony Murder-Rule was applied. The Jury convicted W…
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 Question not identified.
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 1. Is federal first-degree murder, 18 U.S.C. § 1(a), which includes felony murder, a crime of violence within the meaning of the force clause of 18 U.…
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 As reasonable jurors would have disagreed that the Felony Murder Statute as applied to this Petitioner is unconstitutional, denying this Petitioner hi…
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 1. 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 c…
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 Where the trial judge (1) stated that the defendant is "not guilty of felony murder;" (2) told the jury that their answers to special questions on the…
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 Should the Court hold this petition pending disposition of Brown v. Davenport, No. 20-826, which will likely address how 28 U.S.C. §2254(d) and Brecht…
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 1. Does a conviction of a crime submitted to the jury through a superseding information filed after jeopardy attached and after the court granted judg…
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 I. Whether Petitioner was denied his right to a fair trial, due process and equal protection of the law, guaranteed by the 6th and 14th Amendments to …
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 In a case involving the substantive offenses of murder and robbery, can the offense of robbery be included as an element in a felony murder instructio…
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 (1.) Does the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment bar a second prosecution and punishment for the crimes of Felony-murder and Felonious assa…
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 Under the common law felony-murder rule, if a person kills another while committing or attempting to commit a felony, the killing is murder. The rule …
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 1. Whether a federal court analyzing a prior state-court conviction to determine whether the offense qualifies as a "violent felony" under the Armed C…
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 2) Did the State of Nebraska commit error when it convicted the Defendant of Felony Murder, using the aiding and abetting theory when there is no prin…
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 1.) WhetheR The PetitioNeR DAMON COOk Has Made of A Substantial Showing The DeNial ConstitutioNAL RighT 28 USC 2253(C)(2) IN order To ObtaiN A CertiFi…
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 THIS COURT SHOULD GRANT CERTIORARI VACATE THE DECISION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND AND REMAND TO THAT COURT IN LIGHT OF THIS COURT'S DECISION …
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 Question not identified.
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 Petitioner's first degree murder conviction was invalid under People v, Chiu as there was no basis to find that the iurv did not rely on aiding and a…
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 can a trial court acquit and convict for same crime without violating the prohibitions of the fiFTH Amendment involving double jeopardy in this case? …
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 test mony evidence, of felony murder in the Perpetration of a robbery Included Tenn 3a-12-101 Criminal att…
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? IS THE HIGHEST STATE COURT OBLIGATED TO HO…
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 Is it unconstitutional for the courts, as a matter of common law, to withdraw the third element of felony murder from the jury's consideration by labe…
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, MCL § 750…
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, which allows a criminal defendant to be convicted of felony murder when the d…
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 Under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), a state habeas petitioner is entitled to a certificate of appealability ("COA") when he raises a "debatable" issue. Buck…
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. Whether the Eigh…
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 2. Is there sufficient evidence to support the conviction for the substantive offense of first degree felony murder, and does the adopted felony murde…
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 I. Whether the Maryland Court of Appeals erred in holding in light of Missouri v. Hunter convictions for common law first degree murder did not merger…
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 1.)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. GOOSMAN, TH…
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 To prevent arbitrary imposition of the death penalty, this Court has required use of "'clear and objective standards' that provide 'specific and detai…
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 Ft] he jury was rroneousiy insLrjted on (a) Murder as a ui :ural and p:5able consq:ience per pe0p.e VS enLu SY al 4 Lb 5 172 caL Rptr 3d 438 325 P .3d…
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 1. THE DISTRICT COURT FOUND THE ISSUE " A HABEAS CORPUS IS AN APPROPRIATE VEHICAL FORSECOND OR SUCCESSIVE PETITION. THE DISTRICT COURT FOUND THIS ISSU…
18-6058 Donald Lee Reeves, III v. California California 2018-09-24 Granted Response WaivedIFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process fair-trial felony-murder insufficient-evidence intent robbery special-circumstance I. Whether petitioner's due process right to a fair trial was violated when he was convicted of robbery in Count 4 based upon insufficient evidence th…
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…