People v. Miller
344 N.Y.S.2d 342, 297 N.E.2d 85, 32 N.Y.2d 157 (1973)
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Rule of Law:
A burglary predicated on the intent to commit assault can serve as the underlying felony for a felony-murder conviction because the assault does not merge with the homicide when the predicate felony is burglary.
Facts:
- The defendant knocked on the door of an apartment occupied by Robert Fennell, located directly below his own.
- When Fennell opened the door, the defendant, armed with a butcher knife and a spray can, sprayed Fennell in the face and stabbed him in the arm.
- The defendant followed Fennell as he backed away, entering the apartment while continuing to spray and stab him.
- As Fennell tripped and fell, he shouted for his roommate, Rasul Aleem, to help him.
- When Aleem responded to Fennell’s call for aid, the defendant turned and fatally stabbed Aleem in the chest.
Procedural Posture:
- The defendant was tried by a jury and convicted of felony murder of Aleem, manslaughter in the second degree, and assault in the first degree.
- Following the verdict, the trial judge set aside the felony-murder conviction on the grounds that the predicate felony of burglary had not been established.
- The People, as appellant, appealed the trial judge's order to the Appellate Division, an intermediate appellate court.
- The Appellate Division affirmed the trial court's decision, with the defendant as appellee.
- The People, as appellant, appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals of New York, the state's highest court.
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Issue:
Does a burglary, where the intended crime upon unlawful entry is assault, constitute a valid predicate felony for a felony-murder conviction, or does the assault merge with the homicide, precluding a felony-murder charge?
Opinions:
Majority - Jasen, J.
Yes. A burglary predicated on the intent to commit an assault constitutes a valid basis for a felony-murder conviction. The court reasoned that burglary is explicitly listed as a predicate felony in the felony-murder statute. The defendant committed burglary by unlawfully entering Fennell's apartment with the intent to assault him, and the subsequent killing of Aleem occurred in the course of and in furtherance of this burglary. The court declined to extend the merger doctrine, explaining it was created to remedy a defect in a former statute where any felony, including assault, could be a predicate, which would turn every homicide into a felony murder. The current, revised statute intentionally enumerates specific, dangerous felonies like burglary to avoid this problem, reflecting a legislative judgment that unlawful entry into a domicile for criminal purposes is an inherently dangerous situation that justifies a felony-murder charge if a death results.
Concurring - Jones, J.
Yes. The conviction should be reinstated, but on the narrower ground that the merger doctrine does not apply when the intended victim of the underlying assault is a different person from the homicide victim. The concurrence argued that historical precedent allowed for a felony-murder conviction where the assault was committed on one person (Fennell) and another person was killed (Aleem). Because the defendant entered with the intent to assault Fennell and ended up killing Aleem, the assault on Fennell does not merge with the homicide of Aleem, making the felony-murder conviction proper without needing the majority's broader analysis of legislative intent regarding the burglary statute.
Analysis:
This decision significantly clarifies the scope of New York's felony-murder rule by refusing to extend the merger doctrine to burglaries where the underlying intent is assault. It establishes that the act of unlawfully entering a dwelling with criminal intent is an independent felony of sufficient gravity to serve as a predicate for felony murder. This reinforces the legislative determination that burglaries are inherently dangerous situations, and any resulting death warrants the severe penalty of murder, regardless of the defendant's specific intent to kill. The ruling solidifies the separation between the crime of burglary and the crime intended therein, preventing defendants from arguing that an assaultive intent merges with a resulting homicide to defeat a felony-murder charge.
