Parking lot attendant uses lethal force to defend himself.

[JustinJ]

So if the father is charged with murder for the death of his son while committing a felony would that be a second charge that comes only after being convicted of the felony? It seems somewhat problematic to charge someone for an outcome of committing a felony before it is proven in court that they committed a felony.

 

[heeler]

Not a religious sort by a furlong myself Delta but I have to admit there is a lot of truth with those statements as I see it pretty much weekly in the news.

 

[Mike1234567]

I'm sick of this kind of crap. I hope the bastard gets the maximum penalty.

 

[Sam1911]

So if the father is charged with murder for the death of his son while committing a felony would that be a second charge that comes only after being convicted of the felony?

No, not after. A criminal case can have multiple charges involved.

Watch the news or court TV, or do jury duty, some time and you'll get a feel for how a criminal trial works.

He'd probably be charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon for his attack on the victims, possibly other charges depending on damages he might have caused to property or whatnot, AND one count of Murder (probably in the 2nd Degree).

He can be found guilty of all, some, or none of those charges and you'll hear the foreman of the jury read out a statement like, "On the count of ADW, we find the defendant (not)guilty, on the count of Murder 2, we find the defendant (not) guilty..." etc.

 

[JustinJ]

Obviously a defendant can face multiple charges at any one time but the charge of murder from death during a felony doesnt make much sense if one hasn't been convicted of said felony.

For example, if one is charged with murder and lying to the police either conviction can rationally happen independent of the other. On the other hand if one is not convicted of commiting a felony but convicted of murder from a death that occurred while committing said felony it would be somewhat of a paradox.

 

[9mmepiphany]

So if the father is charged with murder for the death of his son while committing a felony would that be a second charge that comes only after being convicted of the felony? It seems somewhat problematic to charge someone for an outcome of committing a felony before it is proven in court that they committed a felony.

Not a second charge in that it is charged after the first is proven, but charged concurrently...look up the Felony Murder Rule...the charges needn't be proven to file the charges, but there does need to be a basis for the charges

It isn't problematic because all the elements of a crime have to exist before a conviction can be found...otherwise the judge can set the verdict aside

 

[daorhgih]

Two attackers, or a mob of attackers ...

.... no raindrop is gonna confess to causing the flood. Mamma always said, "Get as far away from the bad side of the tracks as your feet will take you." But maybe violent tendencies were passed via DNA from Pop to son. So, it's still Pop's fault.

 

[Crusader103]

Hasn't there been instances where someone has used force to detain a thief? Is there a defined line of what is acceptable?

Yes, there have been several instances in which force is used to detain a thief. I would never recommend doing so, but many locales allow that a person can use the minimum force necessary to detain the subject of a crime. The defined line is whether or not the actions were "reasonable and necessary" to detain them. You may not physically attack a shoplifter, though you may certainly be justified in physically restraining them. If they put up resistance, you would then be permitted to escalate to the next minimum force necessary to overcome the resistance.

Again, not my recommendation. But the law often allows for that. It is the very principle under which store security/loss prevention often works. They generally have no special authority under the law beyond that of a private citizen, yet they regularly detain (and even restrain) shoplifters. There are a couple of big box store chains I am intimately familiar with through my LE work that do so all the time.

As it pertains to the video, unreasonable force is never authorized in retaliation for even a proven crime, including assault or murder, much less theft.

 

[mortablunt]

I'm glad that they called 911 first. The victimized did the right thing and did not try to provoke anything. I have to say that Isayah invited the attack by escalating things. However, this does remind me of a certain meme that was popular a few years back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIUQ7nwCl1o&feature=related