Commonwealth v. Moran

The defendants appeal from convictions, following a jury trial, of murder in the first degree and unarmed robbery. The murder convictions were based on the felony-murder doctrine. The defendants argue that that doctrine, as it has previously been applied in this Commonwealth, is unconstitutional and therefore that it was error for the judge to instruct the jury on felony-murder. We hold that the doctrine is constitutional. However, we examine the felony-murder doctrine as it applies to the common law felony of unarmed robbery, and hold that it was error to instruct the jury that the malice…