Commonwealth v. Almeida
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
68 A.2d 595 (1949)
Almeida (defendant) and two associates committed an armed robbery, and during their gunfight with responding police officers, an officer was fatally shot — though it was unclear whether the fatal bullet came from one of the robbers or from a fellow officer. Almeida's proposed jury instruction requiring proof that one of the robbers actually fired the fatal shot was denied; instead the judge instructed the jury it could convict of murder if it found Almeida was engaged in the armed robbery when the officer was shot, regardless of who fired the shot, and the jury convicted him.
Whether a felon's exchange of gunfire with police makes the felon's crime the proximate cause of any wounds a third party suffers from shots fired by the police.