Part 2 of Felony Murder, Disability and Miranda

We have been talking about Luke Pelham, barely 18 at the time of a horrible crime that took the life of his friend.  In the first interview we discussed Luke's birth, his early childhood and struggles that he has had throughout his life.  Struggling to fit into a judgemental and unforgiving world of people who do not understand disability.  Luke, having been in the special ed system his entire educational career, had done an excellent job of masking his problems in a superficial social setting.  That was the result of years of hard work and focus from his mother and special educators.   In this interview we will be discussing the basics of what happened that lead up to Luke being arrested and charged with Felony 1st Degree murder,  Under the Felony Murder rule, you do not have to actually harm nor kill anyone to be charged with this.  In Colorado, Felony Murder then becomes felony 1st degree murder (other states vary in the usage and wording) and carries an automatic mandatory minimum sentence of life without parole and in some cases the death penalty.  Even though the jury would have learned about Luke's disabilities and how they had an impact on his inability to foresee pieces of a puzzle coming together that would equal such a horrible crime, the jury is not allowed to know that the defendant is facing life without parole.  That means they are deliberating blindly.   The clarification that we will bring from this interview is that Luke was not a participant in the beating death of his friend, he did not know that his friend was going to be beaten in such a manner, Luke was not even present when the beating took place, he was outside of the residence.  Luke later called 911 to get medical help for his friend but in doing so would find himself at the police station talking to police.