2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 53a - Penal Code
Chapter 952 - Penal Code: Offenses
Section 53a-54c - Felony murder.
A person is guilty of murder when, acting either alone or with one or more persons, such person commits or attempts to commit robbery, home invasion, burglary, kidnapping, sexual assault in the first degree, aggravated sexual assault in the first degree, sexual assault in the third degree, sexual assault in the third degree with a firearm, escape in the first degree, or escape in the second degree and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or of flight therefrom, such person, or another participant, if any, causes the death of a person other than one of the participants, except that in any prosecution under this section, in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant: (1) Did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, request, command, importune, cause or aid the commission thereof; and (2) was not armed with a deadly weapon, or any dangerous instrument; and (3) had no reasonable ground to believe that any other participant was armed with such a weapon or instrument; and (4) had no reasonable ground to believe that any other participant intended to engage in conduct likely to result in death or serious physical injury.
(P.A. 74-186, S. 11, 12; P.A. 76-336, S. 21; P.A. 79-570, S. 2; P.A. 92-260, S. 28; P.A. 15-211, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 76-336 replaced rape in first degree, deviate sexual intercourse in first degree and sexual contact in first degree with sexual assault in first degree, sexual assault in first degree with firearm, sexual assault in third degree and sexual assault in third degree with firearm; P.A. 79-570 removed murder resulting from commission of or attempt to commit arson from purview of section; P.A. 92-260 replaced obsolete reference to offense of “sexual assault in the first degree with a firearm” with revised name of “aggravated sexual assault in the first degree”; (Revisor’s note: In 1995 the indicators (A), (B), (C) and (D) were changed editorially by the Revisors to (1), (2), (3) and (4) respectively for consistency with statutory usage); P.A. 15-211 added “home invasion,” and made technical changes.
