Guess The State!

[theweaselking]

Guy gets drunk. Housemate says "Can I borrow your car?" Guy says sure. Housemate robs a house and kills someone. Housemate gets life in prison. Guy also gets life in prison for being an "accomplice" to murder by lending the housemate the car.

I love this new interpretation of the doctrine. What's next? Prosecuting bus drivers because someone took a bus to get to a crime scene? Prosecuting car salesmen for selling cars that are then used in crimes? Oooh, ooh, I know. Let's prosecute *parents*, because if they hadn't had the kid, this would never have happened!

Edit: Turned it into a Guess The State, by popular demand.

Comments

[cmseward.livejournal.com]

Dang, I wanted to play Guess the State!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Fixed now. A little late for you, y'know, but...

[cmseward.livejournal.com]

Hey, s'ok, I'm popular demand.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm Scott. Nice to meet you!

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

Don't forget prosecuting someone for having their car stolen and then used to transport people in the commission of a crime. Hey, does that mean that someone could steal your car and then sell it to a chop shop and you'd be guilty of selling stolen property?

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

jesus fuck

[chaosrah.livejournal.com]

btw, i'm reposting this to wtf_inc, because this is pretty wtf to me

[kafziel.livejournal.com]

The felony murder doctrine is a good doctrine. Being an accomplice to a crime carrying the same punishment as the crime is a good doctrine. But this guy wasn't an accomplice to anything. There's no way this will hold up on appeal.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

*How* is it a good doctrine?

Beyond encouraging, y'know, everyone involved to kill all the witnesses as soon as any of them die, because you're all up for execution as soon as the first victim dies? Oh, wait, that's not a good thing.

[dilickjm.livejournal.com]

There's no way this will hold up on appeal.

Any phrase starting with "There's no way..." WRT the American Judicial System has been declared invalid after 531 U.S. 98, AKA Bush v. Gore.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Ya know- It would be interesting to see the statistical spread of states where these "Guess the State" articles have occurred... For instance,- How many of them are in Florida or/vs. some nearby Southern State?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

They're all - ALL, mind you - either Florida or Ohio.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Oh good GAWDS... )(shudder!)

Well- good advice to stay AWAY from those places, then...

[geminiknight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but according to the article, the guy knew his housemate was going over there to rob the dealer, so I can see some justification of it. I'm still not entirely sure I agree though.

[geminiknight.livejournal.com]

Hrm..scratch that..it's vague now that I reread it.. his statements 'seem to' indicate he knew about the robbery? Hrm...interesting wording, plus is that knowing about it, before or after the fact?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

According to the article, while drunk, at a party, *with the daughter of the dealer present*, they said that they could steal the safe and they might have to knock fellow-party-goer out to get away safely.

That, in no way, is a credible statement of intent, and, even if it had been, they asked to borrow his car, he didn't know what for, and he says he thought they were going out for food when they took his keys and left.

So no. While he knew they'd said they might go rob the dealer, he had no reason to believe it, no reason to believe they wanted his car to do it with when they asked him to borrow it, *and* no intent to aid in the commission of a crime.

This makes him *not an accessory*.

Which makes him *not guilty*, even though he lives in an uncivilised backwater in a third-world nation where you institutionally get convicted of crimes you didn't commit.

[geminiknight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the more I read into it, I decided they didn't even have that shred of justification to it.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

"...had given the police a series of statements in which he seemed to admit knowing about the burglary..."

Under the same doctrine, Kissinger faces risk for the death incurred in the Allende kidnapping.

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Come on John...he's BLACK. What the fuck does guilt or innocence have to do with it?