Thugs are very adept at tossing guns, then saying, "I didn't do nothin". They literally do that for a living.
If you do beat feet, be sure to;
1. scan the area for cams and walk away instead of drive away to make it more difficult to identify you. The detectives, if lazy, will think you just walked there so that's why you walked away from the scene. Pray that the cams didn't catch your face somehow. When going to a high risk location such as a bar in the bad part of town (best not to go), it might be wise to park somewhere in a cam's blind spot or park across the street and then hoof it so as to avoid them catching your license plate on video.
2. take pictures of the crime scene to avoid tampering after you leave. Last year, a woman who shot a man armed with a knife did exactly that and then beat feet. She took a photo of the crime scene with her phone before leaving. They caught her a couple days later (gas station video showed her license plate) but because she had the photo of the guy with a knife, she was no billed by the grand jury. She's from the hood so she knew their games. That's why she took the photo. Be street smart like her. The worker at the gas station knew the guy so he might've hid the knife to protect the dying guy from the po po. Maybe he didn't do so because he saw her take the photo.
dicion wrote:This goes back to a discussion that was had a couple years ago. Let me rehash the situation:RoyGBiv wrote:Note to self: If I ever do the right thing in the wrong place.... Beat feet.
-You're walking down an alley, some guy comes out of nowhere and pulls a knife/gun/other clear indicator of deadly force on you. You draw and drop him.
-Someone in a window, on the corner, or down the block, or something sees what happened and calls 911 informing the police of the shooting *or* There's a payphone nearby, and you call 911 yourself and inform of the shooting, or, in some other way, 911 IS properly called, by some way that doesn't identify YOU. Basically, exactly what happened in this bar situation, but in a place where carrying isn't illegal, and you're not illegally carrying.
Do you:
1) Stay on the scene, wait for the police to arrive
or
2) Beat feet
The reason this is a serious discussion, and both could possibly be considered as valid options, depending on the situation, is because of the following:
If you choose #1 and stay on the scene, you will be subject to the following:
1) Identification - Your name will be known as the person who killed this guy. This will be in the public record for everyone to see/know.
- Is he a member of a gang? Does he have friends/family? Is there any chance of any retaliation against you or your family? His family WILL vilify you in the media. He, of course, was just a kid who was working on turning his life around. You were, of course, a blood-thirsty militant 2A supporter that, appallingly, carries a gun with you everywhere you go IN THE HOPE that you get to kill someone, etc etc.
- Assuming you are no-billed, your name could still be irrevocably harmed in the public eye. This could affect current/future employment, relationships/etc.
2) Defense - Self Defense is a defense to prosecution. Instead of innocent until proven guilty, you basically will be admitting to murder, then trying to prove self-defense. Guilty until proven innocent.
- Even if a clear cut case, still costs money (lawyer) and time. Best case scenario, Grand Jury No-bill. Worst case, Murder Trial.
- Expect be arrested for it. This can have future detrimental effects on background checks/security clearances/etc, even if completely cleared unless it is completely expunged (More Lawyer money and Time), and even then, we all know that expunged things still sometimes show up some places. Were you just arrested for a self defense shooting? Good luck keeping your job if you don't work at a gun store. Companies will want to 'distance' themselves from you no matter what the outcome is, so as to not sully their name or image.
- If it's even marginally questionable circumstances that you cannot 'prove' in the eyes of the media, expect to be treated like George Zimmerman, for the rest of your life. Good luck if it was a black teenager and you're an older caucasian male.
- Then there is always the chance that you will be found guilty.
If you choose #2 and beat feet, none of the above will occur unless they catch you, and can prove it was you that did it.
If they catch you, then you're right where you would be anyways if you just stayed on the scene. Yes there may be additional charges for not staying, but a good lawyer could probably use the above reasoning, in addition to other things to pretty much negate that or knock it down.
As demonstrated in the situation this thread is based off of, if it is clearly a 'good shoot' to the witnesses and on-scene police, and the assailant is a known criminal, it doesn't appear that they'll try very hard.
I'm not advocating for running after a self-defense situation at all , I'm merely bringing up a topic for discussion and input from others.