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Old 09-14-2017, 06:33 PM
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TomkinsSP TomkinsSP is offline
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Originally Posted by federali View Post
There are many similar cases in which various jurisdictions or juries arrived at very different findings, from total exoneration to a murder conviction. The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.

Likewise, this thread makes an assumption that the American judicial system functions on fact and logic. Nothing could be further from the truth. It helps explain why rape victims sometimes feel they were raped a second time on the witness stand.
IMHO it is MORE important what the Police and Prosecutor think about the LACs actions than the letter of the law. It is my experience that if the Police don't hold you, you are unlikely to be charged, If the Prosecutor does not see fit to charge, end of story. A good lawyer can portray the reluctance of Police to detain or the State to charge as being fact based. Charges that come later based on public outcry are seen as political.

I am not saying that the letter of the law is not important, it can be, but if you aren't charged, because your actions were seen as reasonable to the PO and DA, the letter of the law is irrelevant to a great extent, leaving even the sharks little to bite.

As an example, richardw linked a brief on PA law. In the brief it said that PA law doesn't recognize the obvious fact that a 300 pound body builder could be a lethal weapon by himself. If a legally armed 90 pound 4'7" woman shot said 300 pound body builder to prevent his commission of a forceable rape. Technically has she committed a crime? Would a reasonable PO or DA stand on the letter of the law or their sense of justice and desire not to be understandably pilloried by the media, public?
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Last edited by TomkinsSP; 09-14-2017 at 08:49 PM.
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