State v. George
2005 WL 1536807, 908 So. 2d 79 (2005)
Premium Feature
Subscribe to Lexplug to listen to the Case Podcast.
Rule of Law:
A homicide committed during a perpetrator's immediate flight from an underlying felony constitutes part of a single, continuous transaction sufficient to support a felony murder conviction, even if the homicide and felony occur at different locations.
Facts:
- Charles R. George, posing as a potential homebuyer, met with real estate agent Dondi Walker Copeland.
- After viewing a house, George kidnapped Copeland, forced her to withdraw $200 from an ATM, and drove her to his family's camp.
- At the camp, George made Copeland undress and attempted to forcibly rape her, but was unsuccessful.
- Immediately following the attempted rape, George forced Copeland into the trunk of her own car.
- As George fled the scene in Copeland's car, she tumbled from the moving vehicle's trunk onto a highway.
- Copeland was pronounced dead at the scene from cranial cerebral trauma resulting from the fall.
- George abandoned the car, hid in the woods overnight, and was apprehended the next day.
Procedural Posture:
- Charles R. George was charged with second-degree murder in a Louisiana trial court.
- A jury found George guilty of second-degree murder under the felony murder doctrine, with attempted forcible rape as the underlying felony.
- The trial court sentenced George to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefits, to be served consecutively with a prior life sentence for aggravated kidnapping.
- George (Appellant) appealed his murder conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit, where the State of Louisiana is the Appellee.
Premium Content
Subscribe to Lexplug to view the complete brief
You're viewing a preview with Rule of Law, Facts, and Procedural Posture
Issue:
Does a homicide that occurs during a perpetrator's flight from the scene of an attempted felony constitute part of a 'single, continuous transaction' with that felony, sufficient to support a second-degree felony murder conviction?
Opinions:
Majority - Brown, C.J.
Yes. A homicide that occurs during a perpetrator's flight from the scene of an underlying felony constitutes part of a single, continuous transaction, which is sufficient to support a conviction for second-degree felony murder. The court reasoned that under Louisiana precedent, the underlying felony and the subsequent homicide do not need to be simultaneous or occur in the exact same location. The critical element is that they are part of a 'continuous transaction without a significant break in the chain of events.' Here, George forced the victim into the trunk immediately after the attempted rape and was actively fleeing the scene when she died. Because he never relinquished control over the victim and her death was a direct result of his flight, the attempted rape and the homicide were part of one continuous criminal episode. The court also found sufficient corroborating evidence—including DNA on a towel at the camp, witness testimony, and ATM photos—to support George's confession to the underlying felony of attempted forcible rape.
Analysis:
This decision reinforces Louisiana's broad application of the 'continuous transaction' doctrine in felony murder cases. It clarifies that the flight from the scene of a felony is not a separate event but is legally considered part of the perpetration of the initial crime. The ruling makes it more difficult for defendants to sever liability for a death that occurs during an escape by arguing the underlying felony was already complete. This precedent solidifies the legal principle that a crime continues through the phase of immediate flight, thereby expanding the timeframe and circumstances under which a felony murder charge can be sustained.
