Pa. Supreme Court to weigh life sentences for felony murder

A collage of images and documents from Marie Scott’s archives. (Courtesy of Ellen Melchiondo, arranged by Miranda Jeyaretnam/PublicSource) “PublicSource is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region.& Sign up for our free newsletters.” by Miranda Jeyaretnam and Peter Hall, PublicSource June 4, 2024 Marie “Mechie” Scott is like most 70-year-olds. Her cheeks are dotted with age spots, her cornrows are graying and her forehead crinkles when she breaks into a laugh. She moves slowly, uses a wheelchair and has chronic back pain that makes it excruciating to walk, cough or lie on her side. She paints, sings and collects crocheted animals. Unlike most 70-year-olds, though, Scott has spent her entire adulthood behind bars at the State Correctional Institution in Muncy, Lycoming County. Without some kind of intervention — a change in the law or a court ruling in a case she has no hand in — she will die in prison. When Scott was 19, she was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for felony murder. Under the felony murder doctrine, a person accused of committing a felony can be charged with murder for a death that occurs during the felony, even if the defendant was not...