The Legal Rule Behind The Conspiracy Of HTGAWM

It seems our freaked out law students have all been scared about the felony murder rule.

Ed. note: Another in Alex’s series of HTGAWM recaps for Redline.
Well, well. The mid-season finale for How To Get Away With Murder certainly delivered what it promised. After hocking the #WhoKilledSam hashtag for a week they answered the question we didn’t even know we cared about. But, perhaps more relevantly they answered why would five people who can barely stand each other all be part of a conspiracy to commit murder?

The relationship between Michaela, Laurel, Conner and Wes has been characterized by the swiping and backbiting all too common between law school competitors classmates. And Rebecca, well except for Wes’s penchant for boning her, has been a pretty difficult client. So why are they all working together to cover up Sam’s murder?

[Yes, for everyone with delicate sensibilities we are about to discuss SPOILERS in an episode recap.]

Turns out they are all scared about the felony murder rule.

When we left the gang last week, Rebecca was determined to find evidence of Sam’s guilt in the murder of Lila. Well, she slips into the Keating house/office while Sam is distracted by Michaela’s academic freak out. (She stole the getoutofanexamfree statue from Asher and wanted to use it to get out of her Crim exam.)

Unfortunately, Sam had just come off of an argument with Annalise and was in no mood to be trifled with. He chases Rebecca, breaks down a door and generally gets pretty violent. Rebecca locks herself in an upstairs bathroom trying to download info from Sam’s computer. A panicked Michaela calls Wes and Co. to come and… I guess save Rebecca. In any event Wes, Laurel and Conner all show up and Sam makes a play for the evidence and a fight between Sam and the gang breaks out. In the scramble Michaela pushes Sam away from Laurel and he goes over the staircase balcony.

Standing around Sam’s lifeless body there are a lot of accusations and recriminations regarding guilt. Then Laurel brings up the kicker: they are all potentially liable under the felony murder rule.

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For the uninitiated, Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary defines the doctrine:

A rule that allows a killing that occurs in the course of a dangerous felony, even an accidental death, to be charged against the felon as first-degree murder. A felon can be guilty of murder during the course of the dangerous felony even if the felon is not the killer

Laurel argues that they all broke into the Keating house (well, maybe. They all work there too so there’s at least a colorable argument that there might be a legitimate reason for their presence), and Rebecca stole data from Sam’s computer and those actions could well land them all in jail.

Maybe this seems ridiculous, but certainly within the realm of possibility. Though many jurisdictions have limited the felony murder rule to dangerous felonies or killings that were the natural and direct result of the felony, the rule is still not narrow.

Take for example the case of the Elkhart four.

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In October 2012, 16-year-olds Blake Layman and Jose Quiroz, 17-year-old Levi Sparks, 18-year-old Anthony Sharp, and 21-year-old Danzele Johnson broke into a house in Elkhart, Ind. The five were not armed and thought the house was vacant. Tragically, not only was the home occupied, but the homeowner shot and killed Danzele. Though not his killer, the four surviving teens were charged with Danzele’s murder.

They have had their sentences reduced from the 45+ years each was originally given and their convictions are under appeal, but the felony murder rule remains a harsh mistress. Hell, Levi Sparks didn’t even enter the house that fateful night and was still convicted under this theory.

This case may seem like an outlier, a miscarriage of justice that ordinary folks wouldn’t consider in the heat of the crime. But these are (mostly) law students. Understanding the margins of the law is the core of their syllabus. Finally, these characters coming together in a conspiracy to cover up Sam’s murder starts to make sense. Though the unraveling of said conspiracy is likely to be even more entertaining over the course of the show.

But wait! There’s more! Like an ax murderer in a slasher flick, Sam isn’t quite done yet. He pops up and tries to strangle Rebecca. And that’s when Wes bashes Sam head with the trophy. Sam is really dead now, and the “cover up the crime” montage we’ve been seeing snippets of all season gets played out.

Not content to end on anything less than a jaw dropping moment, we learn in the waning moments of the episode that Annalise is wise to the crime, and appears to be advising Wes on exactly how to get away with it. Well if anyone can get away with murder, it’d be Annalise.


Alex Rich is a T14 grad and Biglaw refugee who has worked as a contract attorney for the last 7 years… and counting. If you have a story about the underbelly of the legal world known as contract work, email Alex at alexrichesq@gmail.com and be sure to follow Alex on Twitter @AlexRichEsq