The felony murder rule is a legal doctrine that expands the definition of murder and makes criminal accomplices (including a lookout or getaway driver) as responsible for a death that occurs in the course of a dangerous felony crime as the person who directly caused the death by pulling the trigger of a gun, stabbing the victim with a knife, strangling the victim, or otherwise causing the victim’s death. Examples of dangerous felony crimes that implicate the felony murder rule include robbery, burglary, rape, aggravated kidnapping, carjacking, and arson.

When the felony murder rule applies, it may make a criminal accomplice liable for murder even if the criminals had agreed that no one would be killed in the course of the crime, and even if it is a fellow criminal who is killed in the course of the crime—such as when a police officer or security guard shoots a bank robber—which may result in all other accomplices to the crime being charged with murder.

In many states the felony murder rule—and any distinctions between the culpability of accomplices and principals to a crime—are located in the state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Nevada, the felony murder rule is codified in the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) under NRS 200.030. According to this statute, a person can be charged with first-degree murder if a death occurs, even unintentionally, during the commission of certain felonies such as arson, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, terrorism, or any other felony which involves the use of force or violence or which poses a threat of force or violence. This means that if someone is killed during the commission of these felonies, all participants in the felony can be held equally responsible for the death, regardless of their level of direct involvement. This includes individuals who may have served as a lookout or getaway driver. The rule applies even if the death was accidental or if it was a co-felon who was killed, for instance, by law enforcement during the commission of the crime. The felony murder rule in Nevada thus expands the definition of murder and can result in severe penalties for all accomplices, not just the individual who directly caused the death.