DataGeorgia  

*These factors track the process--i.e. the effort and obstacles--for obtaining data from individual states under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and appeals process. These factors do not measure the quality of the data; only the process of attempting to obtain the data.

• 42

  days to respond to our FOIA request.

• $161.52

  cost to request information.

Georgia took 42 days to respond to our FOIA request with an Excel spreadsheet grouping all people convicted and sentenced for any and all kinds of murder without any distinction for those convicted and sentenced under felony murder and charged $161.52 to do so.

Like most other states, Georgia does not have a statute specifically codifying felony murder, which would make it easier to identify and isolate felony murder conviction data. Instead, as in most other states, felony murder is collapsed under another murder statute.

Although we appealed the FOIA results and asked for more specific data related to felony murder, we have yet to receive any response to our appeal.

In Georgia, felony murder is felony murder is defined in the state’s general murder statute (Ga. Code Ann. § 16-5-1).

Prosecutors can charge and convict any person of murder without having to prove that they intended to cause another person’s death. Prosecutors must only prove that a person committed another felony and that a death occurred “irrespective of malice.” Prosecutors can prove first degree murder even when the death was caused by a third non-party (i.e. neither the person nor their accomplice).

A conviction for felony murder carries possible sentences of life, life without the possibility of parole, and death.