[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

How Lending A Friend Your Car, Then Going to Bed Can Land You a Life Prison Sentence | Alternet

The author's best point is that the parents who were selling the drugs out of their house should be held responsible at some point also.

And again, likely none of this happens if marijuana was not illegal.

Bottomline for me, the US system is outta whack, but I don't see much of a chance to get it back on track.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/us...ewanted=2&_r=0

Mr. Holle had no criminal record. He had lent his car to Mr. Allen, a housemate, countless times before.

“All he did was go say, ‘Use the car,’ ” Mr. Allen said of Mr. Holle in a pretrial deposition. “I mean, nobody really knew that girl was going to get killed. It was not in the plans to go kill somebody, you know.”

But Mr. Holle did testify that he had been told it might be necessary to “knock out” Jessica Snyder. Mr. Holle is 25 now, a tall, lean and lively man with a rueful sense of humor, alert brown eyes and an unusually deep voice. In a spare office at the prison here, he said that he had not taken the talk of a burglary seriously.

“I honestly thought they were going to get food,” he said of the men who used his car, all of whom had attended the nightlong party at Mr. Holle’s house, as had Jessica Snyder.

So, he's at a party with his friends and the murder victim. She likely says something along the lines of 'Mom has safe filled with pot." She leaves, friends say "Hey, let's grab the pot and get some munchies. We probably have to knock out the victim so she doesn't recognize us. Damn, we need a car, can we borrow yours dude?". Guy in jail says "Sure, just bring me back some Doritios." Friends stop to steal the pot and bash victim's head in.

So, did he just think they were joking? or not? Another one of those "hard to judge because I wasn't there and didn't see him, weigh his credibility against others, etc. etc. If he really knew they were plotting to steal the pot and it would be likely result in an assault, well, bad on him. If not, then it shouldn't be a felony murder.