What theory do most states apply in felony-murder cases regarding bystander deaths?

In felony-murder cases, the theory most states adopt concerning bystander deaths is the agency theory. Under the agency theory, a defendant is held criminally liable for a death that occurs during the commission of a dangerous felony if that death results from the acts of the defendant or their accomplice. This means that if a bystander is killed during the commission of a felony, the defendant can be charged with murder because the killing is viewed as a foreseeable result of the felony they were engaged in, despite the fact that the actual perpetrator of the killing could be a third party or police.

The agency theory maintains that the felony itself acts as a catalyst for the resulting death, thus establishing a direct link between the felony and the death, irrespective of the identity of the actual assailant or whether that person is a participant in the felony. This differs from the proximate cause theory, which would focus on the broader circumstances leading to the death, and typically holds that a defendant can be liable even for deaths resulting from intervening actions that are reasonably foreseeable. However, the agency theory is the more widely accepted standard and is applied by a majority of jurisdictions.

The other options, such as the transformed intent theory and joint venture theory, do not accurately capture