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To: sinsofsolarempirefan
I can only assume that arrests in England are considered much differently, otherwise you wouldn't dismiss them and their negative ramifications so blithely.

Yes it is, from the looks of things being arrested in America is a punitive measure in itself, inflicted on people who haven't even been charged with anything...


The United States is a big heterogeneous country. In some places, being arrested can be a very serious punishment. I think that is a nasty flaw in our criminal justice system, but it is getting better, and will likely become much better as surveilence technology continues to decrease in price.

I have been teaching concealed carry weapons courses in Arizona for 15 years. I tell my students that if they become involved in a deadly force situation, expect to be held for a day or two by the police while they sort things out. It doesn't happen all the time, but it is fairly common. Much depends on how clear-cut the circumstances are.

We had a person in Arizona who killed someone who was attacking him. It seemed pretty clear-cut to me, but it took a couple of appeals and three years before he was exonerated and freed. He was initially convicted and spent three years in jail.

He was a retired school teacher who had never been in trouble with the law. His attacker was someone with a violent history and mental problems who was living out of his car.

If you wish to read about the case:

http://www.haroldfishdefense.org/

22 posted on 08/20/2011 1:38:27 PM PDT by marktwain (In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
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To: marktwain

That case just highlights the importance of allowing evidence that can put a justifiable homicide in context. I’m sure the prosecution would have allowed evidence that theorised a defenden’t motive, so it would only have been fair for the defence to do the same. But it also highlights what can go wrong legally if you are better armed than an assailant who comes off worse...


23 posted on 08/20/2011 2:24:30 PM PDT by sinsofsolarempirefan
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To: marktwain
I have been teaching concealed carry weapons courses in Arizona for 15 years. I tell my students that if they become involved in a deadly force situation, expect to be held for a day or two by the police while they sort things out. It doesn't happen all the time, but it is fairly common. Much depends on how clear-cut the circumstances are.

Maybe outside the home or auto, but in Georgia, there would have to demonstrable evidence that the force was used in something other than self-defense for there to be an arrest.

I have always considered probable cause had to be articulable, not just "we don't know what happened, sit in this cell while we figure it out."

32 posted on 08/20/2011 5:43:10 PM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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