Why is it possible to abridge "a" here?

It is not. No idea why they did it but that's just wrong.

No, you need an indefinite article

It sounds wrong to me, but not HORRIBLY wrong. If you look at the top of the dictionary entry, it claims that felony can be countable or uncountable. Again, to me it sounds wrong-ish, but I guess the dictionary authors found some examples of felony used in a similar way to *She was convicted of theft*.

the one without “a” article is law enforcement & criminal defense & prosecution attorney jargon usage. example: “yeah, we arrested her last night for felony” or “…for felony b&e.” (breaking & entering) this usage is based on 2 scenarios: both speaker & listener (i picture 2 cops) know who had been arrested last night and that the person had been breaking & entering. now that person is facing more severe felony criminal charges. “felony” is also used without an article by attorneys who use it to refer to an existing & known body of law (usually state law). example: prosecutor tells assistant, “we’ve got her on felony 3 so sentence will be at least a year.”

You can say "he was convicted of felony manslaughter" but not just "felony."

“Felony” can also be an adjective to describe a crime. In which case you don’t need an article. *She was convicted of felony drunk driving.*

"felony" needs the article. it's not like saying 'convicted of murder' or 'convicted of arson'. i'm struggling to explain why in a way that feels like it would make sense though.

In US English at least, you cannot. There’s nothing special about that sentence that would eliminate the need for an article. Note that if they used a specific crime no article would be needed. Convicted of burglary, sure. But felony is not a specific crime; it’s a whole class of crimes. So it’s not felony. It’s a felony.

It’s wrong in this case, but it really refers to THAT specific instance of a felony out of ALL possible and impossible felonies.

'Felony' is a broad term for severe crimes. It is correct to say, "He was convicted of a felony." because we don't know what crime he committed. "He was convicted of arson." "He was convicted of grand theft." "He was convicted of breaking and entering." These are also correct because they are specific crimes.

Thank you for all your explaintaions. Now I totally understand.

That's no ok there. It would be ok if felony was an adjective. She was convicted of felony larceny. The crime being larceny, but felony tells us it's a more serious crime.

No it should include "a"

When felony is used as a noun, as above, it should always be referred to as "a felony". However, it can also be used as an adjective, for example: "She was convicted of felony assault."

A lot of people are telling you it’s wrong, but it is not Using ‘felony’ without the article refers to the legal charge/conviction in general, like “he was convicted of murder”, “he was convicted of fraud”, and so also “he was convicted of felony” Using the article refers to a specific act or infringement that constitutes the crime “shoplifting is a felony”, “he was arrested for shoplifting and was found guilty on one charge of felony”, “he commuted a felony” They are both legitimate ways to word this, it just depends on if you are emphasizing the conviction received or the act itself and what it was legally deemed to have constituted

\*He is a convicted felon\* works just as well.

This is weird, even as a native speaker. If I say "she was convinced of *a* felony" I need the "a" but also, it's totally correct to say "She was convicted of felony manslaughter" and I don't need the "a" because in the second case felony becomes and adjective (description word) instead of a noun (object word)

It only works if the felony is an adjective, as in felony murder.

it's not, that's a typo

(American English)The first example is a Noun, the second example is an adjective not a noun in that use (at least in the US that use is Adj). The problem isn’t the missing A but the missing brown after Felony in example 2 Felony what? Felony Trespass? Felony theft?

It isn’t

Pretty much all of the comments here are wrong, but you should heed them anyway. In everyday English, it would be unusual to hear "convicted of felony" instead of "convicted of a felony." In legal writing, though—particularly older legal writing—it is perfectly acceptable to say that one "committed felony" or is "convicted of felony." And, of course, legal writing is exactly the context where you would write about this. See for example [this excerpt](https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Law_dictionary/S2JHAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22felony%22&pg=PA31&printsec=frontcover) from a legal dictionary.

No idea, its ungrammatical for me (PNW English)

Note: This thing says UK but we don't use it here

You can only remove "a" if you add a new noun. "He was convicted of felony assault" or "he was convicted of felony armed robbery" are both acceptable, but you can't just remove the "a" without adding more.

The only time I’ve ever seen the article omitted is when the type of felony is specified — for example, “she was convicted of felony tax evasion.”

I believe that is a typo or an issue with the webpage (html/css)

You can treat Felony as a noun or adjective. If it is a noun, it needs an article. "He committed a felony." If it is an adjective, no article is required for it. "He committed felony burglary." The second image feels wrong, and as a native speaker, I would think it incorrect.

I'd say that's a bad edit. The word "a" should be present

In the US, the second one is wrong. No one drops the “a” even as slang.

You can actually drop it sometimes. Convicted of X is a shorthand for "convicted for the crime of X". The defendant was convicted of murder, arson and assault. Or the defendant was convicted on three counts of assault. It seems a bit weird to me to say "convicted of felony" here, though I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps because it's so vague? It could make sense if it's a question of felony vs misdemeanour.

"He was convicted of felony murder" I think this is probably a normal sentence?

I don’t think it is?

You can drop the “a” if the word felony is followed by the specific charge. ex: “She was convicted of felony manslaughter”

This seems like a mistake at first, but I think it might actually be correct. It seems like it's using the same syntax as "She was convicted of murdering three people." or "She was convicted of murder." So in this case since it's a legal term that substitutes a verb there's no need for an "a".