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 Utah, the felony murder rule is codified in Utah Code § 76-5-203, which states that a person commits murder if they, acting with intent to cause death or with knowledge that death or serious bodily injury was highly likely, cause the death of another person while committing, attempting to commit, or fleeing after committing or attempting to commit certain felonies, including robbery, burglary, rape, aggravated kidnapping, carjacking, and arson, among others. This rule applies to accomplices as well, meaning that if a death occurs during the commission of a qualifying felony, all participants can be held criminally responsible for murder, regardless of their individual role in the death. This includes situations where an accomplice did not directly cause the death or where the death was unintentional, such as a co-felon being killed by law enforcement during the crime. The felony murder rule thus expands the liability for murder to include those involved in the commission of certain dangerous felonies that result in a death, even if the killing was not premeditated or intended by the accomplices.