Bad moves. There is no reason to trust not being arrested just because you know/believe it was a good shoot. There may be conflicting stories on how the shooting went down and your explanation may look really bad in regard to other witness stories and the forensic evidence.Scott Murray wrote:If I ever had to use my handgun to save my life, my instincts would be to carefully explain what happened to the police, and trust that I wouldn't be charged with anything.
Next, after a shooting, people often have problems explaining things in contextually appropriate manners and may blurt out things they should not blurt out or improperly explain what happened, the trouble of explanation coming from all the pressures of the situation, having to shoot somebody, adrenaline, and potential consequences for your actions. As one cop noted to me, folks often manage to talk themselves into a ticket or getting arrested when silence on the matter or not volunteering information would have precluded the ticket or arrest.
Also, there is no reason to believe that the officers on scene will necessarily get your story correctly. They should, but mistakes can happen.
It may be that the story you give is not readily believed by the cops and so their perspective on the investigation may lean toward identifyin factors that point to your guilt.
So, a lawyer helps protect you from yourself.
Here, you always have a choice. Your choices are to shoot or not to shoot. Non-shooting choices may involve other weapons for defense, compliance, or escape.one eyed fatman wrote:I'd like this thread to continue without all the what if's. Let's do it on a someone broke into my home and theatened my family and I had no choice situation. Let's start here and then what if it to death later.
Generally speaking, home intrusions are a little easier to justify than shootings on the street. However, the cops are going to need to be convinced that the person(s) you shot were actually home invaders and not guests you invited in to kill for some reason.
Regardless of the context of the shooting, you may still be arrested and held until you post bail or the cops manage to determine that the shooting was actually justified. That is just part of due process.