Also known as: felonies · felonious · felonia
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A serious crime usually punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death. At common law the term covered murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, arson, burglary, and larceny. Modern statutes classify an offense as a felony when the legislature designates it as such or authorizes a sentence exceeding one year.
Felicia Fuentes pried open a window of an occupied cabin at night and climbed inside carrying a crowbar. She intended to steal valuable artwork stored there. Because the planned theft was a felony, her entry satisfied the burglary requirement even though she had not yet taken any property.
Fiona Foster, a crew member on a U.S.-flagged vessel, was accused of committing armed robbery against passengers while the ship sailed on the high seas. Congress exercised its authority under Article I to define and punish that conduct as a felony.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Finn Fletcher was found in a civil proceeding to have intentionally and feloniously caused his uncle's death by poisoning. Because the killing qualified as a felony, the court treated Finn as a slayer and denied him any interest under the uncle's will.
Farah Fox, an indigent defendant charged with burglary, appeared at trial without a lawyer. The court appointed counsel because the charge was a felony, and the conviction would have been reversed automatically if counsel had been denied.
Felipe Figueroa inserted a long pole through a broken window to hook and pull a locked jewelry box toward him inside the dwelling. The pole constituted an entry because he used it to commit the intended felony of theft rather than merely to gain access.
Flora Ford fled to another state after being charged with embezzlement, a felony, in the state where the crime occurred. The governor of the demanding state requested her return under the extradition clause, and the asylum state was required to deliver her.
At common law only nine specific offenses counted as felonies: murder, manslaughter, rape, sodomy, mayhem, robbery, larceny, arson, and burglary. All other crimes were misdemeanors.
No. Slayer status requires a felonious and intentional killing. A conviction for negligent homicide does not satisfy that standard and therefore does not conclusively establish slayer status in a later civil proceeding.
The Sixth Amendment requires appointed counsel when the defendant is charged with a felony. Denial of counsel at such a trial requires automatic reversal of any resulting conviction.
A civil court may determine slayer status under the preponderance of the evidence standard. A final criminal conviction for the felonious and intentional killing conclusively establishes the point, but an acquittal does not bar the civil finding.
…common-law scholars and found its way into the received common law in this country. Whether abortion of a quick fetus was a felony at common law, or even a lesser crime, is still disputed. Bracton, writing early in the 13th century, thought it homicide.[^maj-23] But the later and predominant view, following the great…