Is An Independent Felonious Purpose Required for a Predicate Felony to Be the Basis of Felony Murder ?

In People v. Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d 434, 800 N.E.2d 1193, 279 Ill. Dec. 610 (2003), the Supreme Court of Illinois next addressed the issue of whether a predicate felony underlying the charge of felony murder involved conduct with a felonious purpose other than the conduct that caused the killing. In that case, the court affirmed the appellate court's reversal of a felony-murder conviction in which the act of throwing a baby was the basis for both a conviction of aggravated battery of the child and felony murder. Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d at 443, 800 N.E.2d at 1197. The Pelt court referred with approval to the Fourth's District's holding in Morgan, 307 Ill. App. 3d 707, 708 N.E.2d 206, 240 Ill. Dec. 725, that an independent felonious purpose is required for a predicate felony to be the basis of felony murder. Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d at 441, 800 N.E.2d at 1197. Once again, the supreme court determined that the aggravated battery was "an act that was inherent in, and arose out of, the killing." Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d at 442, 800 N.E.2d at 1197. The supreme court went on to question whether the predicate felony "involved conduct with a felonious purpose other than the conduct which killed the infant." Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d at 442, 800 N.E.2d at 1197. The Pelt court defined its task as discerning "from defendant's conduct whether defendant's aggravated battery was an act that was inherent in, and arose out of, the killing of the infant." Pelt, 207 Ill. 2d at 442, 800 N.E.2d at 1197.