Change the Felony Murder Rule in Florida

 A mother speaks about her son’s felony murder conviction and sentence to life in prison without parole:

My name is Barbara Hoard.  Our son, Jason, has been serving a Natural Life sentence since 1996. He is the only son.

When he was 18 Jason was sentenced under the Felony Murder Rule.  He did not murder anyone.  He did not assist anyone with the crime of murder.  He had no knowledge that the murder would occur. 

Until our son was charged under the Felony Murder Rule, I had never heard of it.   I found out that if you are found guilty of the UNDERLYING felony and a murder occurs during the commission of that felony, you are as equally guilty as the man who stabbed with the knife or killed with a gun.  Laws in the State of Florida dictate that when found guilty of felony murder, the penalty is Natural Life.   

We sold everything we had - the house, the furniture.  We had a giant yard sale and gave what money we had to the best attorney in town.  It didnt make a difference. We went to trial, it lasted a week, Jason was aquitted of any conspiracy, but he was found guilty of the underlying felony (stealing a car) and sentenced to life without parole under the Felony Murder Rule !

Surely we thought there had to be a mistake, this couldn’t be happening …

Not the rest of his Natural life, that is too much, too harsh, it could not be.

When I asked the attorney’s secretary if Life meant natural life, she had to check on it and call me back.

Yes, she said, it meant Natural life, until he died — like we were discussing the weather   It was merely business to her, but to US …..it was like being struck by lightning, this didnt make sense, certainly a person should pay for wrongdoing, but the penalty…………the penalty should fit the crime.  No, No not this.

Early the following week a juror went to the local paper and stated that she felt forced by state law to convict the Gulf Breeze teenager of first degree murder and that the legal system should be changed. “To me a murderer is someone who physically does the act that causes someone’s death.  As far as I was concerned, he was not guilty of murder”

Her concerns didn’t matter, the sentence didn’t change and the appeal was denied. And Jason, now 30 years old, still sits in prison, and we continue to be  a family that lives with heartache and a  feeling of helplessness.