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A Nonsensical (and Dangerous) Precedent A Virginia man is being charged with felony murder because a police officer who was chasing him crashed into and killed an off-duty officer from a neighboring jurisdiction. The man was being chased because he had stolen a car and violated his parole, among other things.

However, the charge of felony murder makes no sense here. Under Virginia law, a person can be charged with felony murder if his commission of another felony directly leads to someone's death, even if that was not the intent of the perpetrator. A prime example would be if a guy had a heart attack and died because someone pointed a gun at him during an armed robbery. I can buy that. Now, if a person eluding police crashes into another person and kills him, I can buy the felony murder charge in that case as well. What I can't buy is the idea that a guy being chased by police is responsible for someone that the police crash into and kill.
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No one is forced to elude the police. That is an individual's decision and he must take responsibility for his actions during his attempt to escape justice. But likewise, no one forces any police officers to chase him. That is their decision and they should take responsibility for their actions during the chase.

Moreover, if a man who is being pursued can legally be held accountable for the carelessness of a police officer who is pursuing him, a dangerous precedent will be set. Any time the accountability for my behavior can be passed along to another, it gives me license to throw caution to the wind. This applies to anyone, even cops. Let's not forget that they are as human as anyone else. And when cops are given immunity from the consequences of their careless behavior, we are all in danger. I hope a judge with good common sense will toss out the charge against that man and place the blame, if any, where it rightfully belongs.

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, blogger, and amateur political analyst from Hopewell, VA. Check out his blog at http://commenterry.blogs.com.

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