## Facts

- Edward T. Gladman robbed a delicatessen in the County Line Shopping Center in Amityville, New York, using a gun and taking about $145 in cash and checks.
- Gladman left the shopping center on foot, walked through the neighborhood, and reached a nearby bowling alley parking lot less than one-half mile away.
- Police received the robbery report, broadcast an alert and suspect description, and took steps to contain possible escape routes in the area.
- About 15 minutes after the robbery, Gladman saw a police car enter the bowling alley lot and hid under a parked car.
- Patrolman Richard Rose approached and ordered Gladman to place his weapon on the car hood; Gladman instead turned and shot Rose.
- Gladman then escaped by taking a patron’s car but was later apprehended; his confession was corroborated by eyewitnesses.
- A jury convicted Gladman of felony murder and other offenses; the Appellate Division affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether the homicide of Officer Rose occurred “in the course of and in furtherance of” the robbery or “in immediate flight” from it so as to support felony-murder liability.
2. Whether “immediate flight” was resolved as a matter of law by the court or properly submitted to the jury as a fact question.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the order upholding the felony-murder conviction.
- The court held that, on this record, whether the killing occurred in “immediate flight” from the robbery was properly submitted to the jury.
- The court declined to impose fixed temporal or spatial cutoffs that would terminate flight as a matter of law.

## Legal Principles

- “Immediate flight” for felony-murder purposes is determined from the totality of circumstances rather than rigid time-or-distance rules.
- When reasonable factfinders could differ, the “immediate flight” determination is for the jury, not the court.
- Relevant circumstances include time elapsed, distance from the felony, continued possession of the proceeds, police pursuit or containment efforts, ongoing attempts to evade capture, and whether the felon reached a place of temporary safety.

## Conclusion

The court upheld felony-murder liability because the evidence permitted a jury to find that the officer’s killing occurred during a continuous escape from the robbery, and it treated “immediate flight” as a fact-driven question ordinarily committed to the jury.


People v. Gladman, 41 N.Y.2d 123 (N.Y. 1976)