Mxsmanic wrote:

C J Campbell writes:

Some news reports are saying the carjacker will be charged with the
deaths of the people killed in the crash.

Typical emotional overreaction. The pilots were the only people at
fault.

I am not sure how they would get a conviction, though.

By using the same irrational emotional basis for a verdict in the
trial that was used to file the charges in the first place.

Nothing emotional or irrational about it. Most states have laws that
allow people who commit crimes to be charged with murder, if a death of
any kind is a result of the crime. It doesn't matter if the person
intended to cause death, or even if they had a direct hand in it.

As examples, a group of men committed a robbery in Florida, and fled in a
car. The police chased the car, which ran off the road and hit a tree,
resulting in the death of one of the occupants. All of the rest of the
group were charged with murder even though only one was driving, and even
though the person who died was one of their accomplices.

In another case, two people drove to a house with the intention of
robbing it. One stayed in the car, while the other entered the house. A
struggle ensued with the occupant of the house, who died in the struggle.
The person who remained in the car was charged with murder, even though
he did not have a hand in it, did not have a weapon, and was not
expecting that there would be violence.

Thus, expect to see the person in Phoenix charged with murder, and likely
be convicted.