Homicide Defense

Arizona’s felony murder rule is the part of § 13-1105 that surprises people most. If a death occurs in the course of and in furtherance of an enumerated felony, among them armed robbery, burglary, arson, kidnapping, drive-by shooting, escape, certain drug offenses, child abuse, and unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, every participant can be charged with first degree murder. The statute is explicit that this form of the offense “requires no specific mental state other than what is required for the commission of any of the enumerated felonies.”

In practical terms: a person who drove to a robbery and never went inside, and never intended for anyone to be hurt, can face the same charge as the person who fired. Defending a felony murder allegation means attacking the predicate felony, the “in the course of and in furtherance of” connection, and the scope of the individual’s participation, not arguing about intent to kill, which the statute does not require.

Arizona’s justification statutes are more favorable to the accused than most people realize, and one procedural rule matters more than all the others.

Under A.R.S. § 13-205, justification defenses are not affirmative defenses. That means the burden never shifts to you. Once evidence of justification is presented, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not act with justification. You are not required to prove you acted in self-defense; the State is required to disprove it, to the highest standard the law has.

Deadly physical force is justified under A.R.S. § 13-405 when a person would be justified in using ordinary physical force and reasonably believes deadly physical force is immediately necessary to protect against another’s use or attempted use of unlawful deadly physical force. And Arizona imposes no duty to retreat: a person who is somewhere he may lawfully be, and is not engaged in an unlawful act, may stand his ground.

These rules do real work in real cases. A homicide that police charged as second degree murder on the night it happened can be a justified use of force once the full picture, prior threats, the other person’s conduct, the physical layout of the scene, is developed and put in front of a jury.

There is no single defense to a homicide charge. There are, in most cases, several arguments running at once, and the work is deciding which ones a jury will actually accept together.

Reducing the charge. Most homicide defense is not “someone else did it.” It is the argument that the State charged too high: that what it calls premeditation was a sudden quarrel, that what it calls extreme indifference was ordinary recklessness, that what it calls recklessness was criminal negligence or no crime at all. Each step down is measured in decades.

Justification. Self-defense, defense of a third person, defense of premises, and the crime prevention statute all apply to homicide cases, and the State carries the burden of disproving them beyond a reasonable doubt.

Causation. The State has to prove that the defendant’s conduct caused the death. Intervening medical treatment, pre-existing conditions, and multiple actors all complicate that chain, and it is a chain that has to be proven, not assumed.

Identity and participation. In shootings with multiple people present and in felony murder allegations, who did what is frequently disputed and frequently supported by nothing more solid than a co-defendant with a reason to talk.

The forensic case. Firearms and toolmark comparison, bloodstain pattern interpretation, time-of-death estimates, and DNA mixture analysis are all areas where the confidence expressed in a police report exceeds what the underlying science supports. These cases warrant independent experts, and Arizona courts have mechanisms for appointing them.

How statements were obtained. Homicide interrogations are long, and they happen when a person is exhausted and frightened. Whether an interview was custodial, whether Miranda warnings were given and understood, and whether a request for counsel was honored are threshold questions in almost every one of these cases.

What is the difference between murder and manslaughter in Arizona? The mental state. Second degree murder requires intent, knowledge that the conduct will cause death or serious physical injury, or extreme indifference to human life. Manslaughter covers reckless killings, and it also covers what would otherwise be second degree murder when it was committed on a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion resulting from adequate provocation by the victim. Adequate provocation is defined by statute as conduct or circumstances sufficient to deprive a reasonable person of self-control.

Can I be charged with murder if I did not kill anyone? Yes. Under Arizona’s felony murder rule, a death that occurs during and in furtherance of certain felonies exposes every participant to a first degree murder charge, without any requirement that the person intended or anticipated a death.

Does Arizona still have the death penalty? Yes. First degree murder is punishable by death or natural life for an adult defendant, and felony murder also allows life with release eligibility after 25 years. Whether the State seeks death is a discretionary charging decision, and it is one that can be engaged with early: before it is made.

Is there a time limit on filing homicide charges? No. Homicide has no statute of limitations in Arizona, which is why cold case charges are filed decades after the fact.

How long does a homicide case take? Capital and first degree murder cases in Maricopa County routinely take two years or more. That is difficult to live through, and it is also time in which a defense is built.

No lawyer can promise you an outcome in a case like this, and you should not trust one who tries. What we can do is tell you honestly what the State must prove, where its case is weak, and what the realistic range of outcomes is, before you make any decision that cannot be undone.