Hines was out turkey hunting
with some friends. He accidentally mistook Wood for a turkey and shot him
dead.
Turns out, Hines was a
convicted felon, and so it was a crime for him to be in possession of a
firearm.
Hines was arrested and charged
with murder.
The prosecutor argued that
the possession of the gun was a felony. Therefore, Wood died during the
commission of a felony and so Hines was guilty of felony murder.
The Trial Court convicted
Hines of felony murder and
sentenced him to life in prison. He appealed.
Hines argued that felony
murder is only applicable if the
underlying felony is something that is "inherently dangerous."
(aka "by its circumstances creates a foreseeable risk of
death.")
Hines argued that gun
possession is not an inherently dangerous activity, even if it was
technically illegal.
The Georgia Supreme Court
upheld the conviction.
The Georgia Supreme Court
looked to the specifics of this case. They found that Hines was probably
drunk and took an unsafe shot into the brush. Hines' activity did have a
foreseeable risk of death and that's enough to sustain the conviction.
In a dissent it was argued
that in order to be "inherently dangerous" the activity must
have a high probability of causing
death. In this case, Hines was most likely negligent, but his activities didn't rise to the level of
"inherently dangerous."
The dissent argued that Wood
died due to a tragic accident, and it was unfair to punish Hines with the
same severity as an arsonist who intention sets fire to an occupied
building.
Hines did not have a
"life-threatening state of mind." He wasn't trying to commit
a felony at all.
In this case, the majority
defined felony murder by asking
whether the felony was committed in a way that creates a foreseeable risk
of death, while the dissent suggested that the question to ask is whether
the felony created a 'high probability' that a person would be killed.
Compare to People v.
Phillips (414 P.2d 553 (1966)) which
ignored the way in which the felony was committed and simply asked if the
felony itself was 'inherently dangerous' as defined.
