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Old 09-24-2012, 12:54 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,029,222 times
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Felony murder is a notorious conceptual oddity in our criminal justice system (and has been eliminated in a variety of common law jurisdictions, and is mostly eliminated in the Model Penal Code, except as a rule of evidence). In any event, there is no such thing as "attempted" felony murder. In fact, that's sort of the point of felony murder: your intent is considered irrelevant.
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Old 09-24-2012, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,526 posts, read 17,554,414 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
Felony murder is a notorious conceptual oddity in our criminal justice system (and has been eliminated in a variety of common law jurisdictions, and is mostly eliminated in the Model Penal Code, except as a rule of evidence). In any event, there is no such thing as "attempted" felony murder. In fact, that's sort of the point of felony murder: your intent is considered irrelevant.
Again, not all that well versed on the law. But, if someone uses a water pistol that looks like a gun, is it the same as using a real gun? How would the teller know the difference? And again, if even the threat of a gun or bomb, would that not be the same as having a real one?
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Old 09-24-2012, 01:14 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Copanut View Post
Again, not all that well versed on the law. But, if someone uses a water pistol that looks like a gun, is it the same as using a real gun? How would the teller know the difference? And again, if even the threat of a gun or bomb, would that not be the same as having a real one?
Holding aside felony murder (which requires an actual death), here is the relevant PA statute:

Section 3701 - Title 18 - CRIMES AND OFFENSES

If you parse that, then you can charge someone with an F1 if he or she "threatens another with or intentionally puts him in fear of immediate serious bodily injury" during a robbery, which I believe would cover your hypotheticals. And that appears to be the more serious charge they dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to an F2 under a different provision ("takes or removes the money of a financial institution without the permission of the financial institution by making a demand of an employee of the financial institution orally or in writing with the intent to deprive the financial institution thereof").
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Old 09-24-2012, 06:10 PM
 
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
2,458 posts, read 4,205,534 times
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If you parse that, then you can charge someone with an F1 if he or she "threatens another with or intentionally puts him in fear of immediate serious bodily injury" during a robbery, which I believe would cover your hypotheticals.
So, essentially what I said in post #39 is true, even if the actual term "armed robbery" isn't used in the letter of the law. I should've argued, instead of taking somebody's word for it.
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Old 09-24-2012, 06:47 PM
 
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Ditchdigger, I wasn't aware there had been an F1 charge. All I knew was there was an F2 sentence.
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Old 09-24-2012, 10:12 PM
 
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
2,458 posts, read 4,205,534 times
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It's ok, Hopes. Just, if I ever get caught robbing a bank, this means I'm gonna call Brian before I call you.

On edit: Although, I might call you to bail me out...
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Old 09-24-2012, 10:59 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,083,010 times
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Originally Posted by ditchdigger View Post
It's ok, Hopes. Just, if I ever get caught robbing a bank, this means I'm gonna call Brian before I call you.

On edit: Although, I might call you to bail me out...
That would be a wise plan considering I'm not the lawyer here. (Kudos to NYyank for digging up all the legal mumbo jumbo for Brian to interpret!)

But I'd come get you. I'll even be a character witness!

Hopes, "How could this have happened? He digs such great ditches! And he knows how to search and interpret old map archives. And he has such a great sense of humor. He puts up with me. City Data has been a better place because of him. It will truly be a loss to society if he goes to jail."

For the record, I mean every word of that!
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Old 09-25-2012, 05:01 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,029,222 times
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In a way you were both right--the PA robbery statute gives prosecutors a lot of options in a case like this. This time they used those options to get a plea deal on an F2, but if they had wanted to they could have tried to get him convicted of an F1.
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Old 09-26-2012, 01:23 PM
 
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The bank a couple blocks down from the PNC the Captain robbed got hit today. I am thinking the Captain is back to his old tricks or someone realized that you don't even get a year for robbing a bank and liked those odds.
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