I know that any given use of force situation can be charged differently depending on where it happened...if I remember correctly the term is "prosecutorial discretion".
As a CCW holder, and someone who tries to keep up with the legal issues normally associated with this, I'm still occasionally surprised by how these things turn out. Here is a story from a few years ago that happened in my town.
A guy hears his mother scream. He looks outside and someone is pointing a gun at her. She escapes, the criminal drives off in her car. The son then jumps in his vehicle and gives chase. He drives across the state line, shooting at the fleeing criminal as he goes.
The criminal pulls over and rolls out unarmed. The son holds him at gunpoint while waiting for the police. The criminal moves and the son shoots him again.
The son told the police "I got angry".
Does he get charged or not? Everything I have ever read tells me you don't do what he did. Yet he was not charged and never went to court.
Link to full story is below.
I recall at the time we (the people I know who discussed it) figured the lack of charges was a message from the local authorities to the criminals that the area was quite simply tired of the crime wave. I have no other way to explain it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918373/posts?page=150
Follow up link to the "no charge" result:
http://www.desototimes.com/news/car...cle_8449bf60-c775-5aab-b9c7-03d7e1edce6f.html
As a CCW holder, and someone who tries to keep up with the legal issues normally associated with this, I'm still occasionally surprised by how these things turn out. Here is a story from a few years ago that happened in my town.
A guy hears his mother scream. He looks outside and someone is pointing a gun at her. She escapes, the criminal drives off in her car. The son then jumps in his vehicle and gives chase. He drives across the state line, shooting at the fleeing criminal as he goes.
The criminal pulls over and rolls out unarmed. The son holds him at gunpoint while waiting for the police. The criminal moves and the son shoots him again.
The son told the police "I got angry".
Does he get charged or not? Everything I have ever read tells me you don't do what he did. Yet he was not charged and never went to court.
Link to full story is below.
I recall at the time we (the people I know who discussed it) figured the lack of charges was a message from the local authorities to the criminals that the area was quite simply tired of the crime wave. I have no other way to explain it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918373/posts?page=150
Follow up link to the "no charge" result:
http://www.desototimes.com/news/car...cle_8449bf60-c775-5aab-b9c7-03d7e1edce6f.html
