[Puffer Fish]

A man was sentenced to life in prison because he was driving the car when one of his acquaintances who was in car used a gun to shoot out the window killing someone else.

In other words, he was inside a car that was involved in a drive-by shooting.

Some might view this as "guilt by association". He was "in a group". One of the persons in that group committed a murder, and so he is also going to be viewed as responsible.
Whether or not he even had any idea that shooting was going to take place.

I totally understand why they convicted him of murder and sentenced him to life in prison. But is it really fair?

The young black man claimed that he had gone to a football game. He offered another young man there a ride in his car to an after game party. There were a total of six people in the car.

According to his three sisters, he had nothing to do with the shooting. The person who was killed was actually a friend of his.
In court, the prosecutor painted him out to be a menace to society. According to his sisters, this man's nickname was "Oops", a name that was given to him at birth, but in court the prosecutor said that was his gang name alias. The sisters say he was never in a gang, and that he was college-bound. He had no prior violent criminal history.

He was charged with "felony murder" and "aggravated assault".
The judge stated that due to mandatory sentencing, he had to give him life in prison.

Dr. Phil
Sisters Say They Can't Enjoy Life Because They Claim Brother Was Falsely Convicted Of Murder, Is In Prison
Ashley says life for her and her siblings changed forever on October 31, 2008. She says police showed up at their house, put her younger brother, Jerome, in handcuffs and took him away. Ashley and her sisters, Fallon and Ebony, say they struggle to enjoy life since Jerome has been behind bars.
"My brother, Jerome Burgess, was driving the vehicle, but he had nothing to do with the shooting."

Sisters Say They Can’t Enjoy Life Because They Claim Brother Was Falsely Convicted Of Murder, Is In Prison | Dr. Phil - April 11, 2023
link to Dr Phil video

Is this yet another example of how so many innocent black men can end up in prison?

Could the court have been less likely to want to give this young man the benefit of the doubt because this young man was black, and they held the idea that many young black men in that area are involved in gangs and drive by shootings?

[Godstud]

This is called "Party to an Offence" in Canada. People who took part in the crime are charged with the same crime. It's justice. It's fair.

[Puffer Fish]

This is called "Party to an Offence" in Canada. People who took part in the crime are charged with the same crime. It's justice. It's fair.

But there wasn't really any evidence he had chosen to take part in the crime.
Seems more like guilt by association.

Authorities do not really know if he had anything to do with the crime, but they decide not to give him the benefit of the doubt.

He picked up a person he met at a football game who he doesn't know that well, offered to give that person a ride in his car, during the car ride that person sees someone out the window and pulls out a gun to shoot them.

Could you imagine, he might have even been afraid for his own life to report the crime. In those areas, snitches (someone who reports someone else's crime to police) often get killed.

Do we automatically assume they must have been part of the crime if they were in the same car and did not immediately report it?
Life in prison a fair punishment for that?

[Godstud]

He probably knew they were doing a drive-by shooting. People aren't stupid.

When shots were fired did he drive away, or stop the car? If he drove away, he was complicit.

[Fasces]

If my passenger just killed two people and ostensibly still has the gun on him, I wouldn't stop - he might shoot me.

That aside, this law still leads to fucked up consequences, though. There's a woman and her husband facing two murder charges because they stole from a store, and the police killed two people while trying to aprehend them - they are responsible now for felony murder because two civilians died during the course of their crimes.

Loads of similar cases abound:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... 4K20140826

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/em ... hird-party

https://apnews.com/article/felony-murde ... c02524e3fe

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/us/f ... oting.html