Subject: Self defense, due process, and the DP
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HERE WE GO AGAIN!
THIS IS PROBABLY NOT WORTH PURSUING, BUT FOR KICKS, I'LL BITE:
Craig Harrison wrote:
One thing bothers me about Dorry's implication that murder
convictions of innocent people are rare enough not to cause a
significant problem if there were a dramatic increase in the rate of
executions.
AND, ON A MORE RADICAL NOTE, I WOULD DARE SAY THAT EVEN IF A DRAMATIC INCREASE
IN EXECUTION RATES WOULD RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN INNOCENT EXECUTIONS
SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO REDEFINE THE RATE OF SUCH EXECUTIONS TO, SAY, "PRETTY
RARE", THAT STILL SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD DEAL FOR SOCIETY. IN OTHER WORDS, I JUST
CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE CALCULUS THAT SAYS 'BETTER TO LET ONE THOUSAND GUILTY
MURDERERS GO FREE (AND MOST OF THEM EVENTUALLY DO) THAN KILL ONE INNOCENT
PERSON' . . . IF ONLY ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT OF THOSE MURDERERS KILL AGAIN,
THEN THAT'S (AT LEAST) TEN INNOCENT DEAD VERSUS ONE INNOCENT DEAD. THIS IS AN
OLD ARGUMENT, OF COURSE, BUT IF SOMEONE CAN GIVE A FRESH AND (AND COMPELLING)
SPIN ON WHY TEN INNOCENT DEAD IS BETTER THAN ONE, I'M ALL EARS.
I have personal knowledge of a number of such cases
which make me wonder. They all involve the issue of self-defense:
the Kung-Fu shcool I attend teaches a *very* hard style and the
students come from varied backgrounds--about half indigent and
inner city and about half with professional careers; the latter
(myself included) rarely get into trouble, but in the last year
or two I have heard of perhaps half a dozen cases where students
have been attacked and swiftly responded with a lethal punch. All
were immediately charged with murder. In three cases, witnesses came
forward and confirmed that they had been attacked, whereupon charges
were dropped. In the remaining instances, this didn't happen and
they ended up in jail. But if a murder conviction resulted in an
automatic death penalty, they would have been executed. It appears
that the police here always file the most serious possible charge
at the outset. But what bothers me is that in none of these cases
was there anything like a careful or thorough proceeding--it appears
that you don't get full due process unless you can afford a good
lawyer, and it seems to me that this problem would multiply in
direct proportion to the rate of executions.
UH, OH. I'M GONNA HAVE TO PUT ON MY LAWYER'S CAP FOR YOU AGAIN, CRAIG...
I'LL WORK WITH THE FACTS YOU'VE PRESENTED, SO IF I OVERLOOK ANYTHING, IT'S
ONLY BECAUSE YOU'VE OVERLOOKED SOMETHING...
1. SIX PEOPLE, INDIVIDUALLY, ARE ATTACKED AND USE THEIR SELF-DEFENSE SKILLS TO
REPEL THEIR ATTACKERS, AND WIND UP KILLING THEM.
2. COPS RESPOND AT EACH OF THE SCENES, AND PRESUMABLY SEE THE SAME THING . . .
ONE BLACK BELT STANdING OVER A DEAD BODY. BLACK BELT SAYS 'DEAD GUY ATTACKED
ME'. DEAD BODY DOESNT RESPOND TO COPS QUESTIONING, SO W/O PROOF OF BLACK
BELT'S DEFENSE, COP MAKES ARREST.
3. ALL SIX ARE CHARGED WITH MURDER (THAT IS WHAT WE CALL IT WHEN A PERSON
INTENTIONALLY TAKES ANOTHER'S LIFE W/O JUSTIFICATION, CRAIG...WHAT WOULD YOU
HAVE THEM CHARGED WITH? JAYWALKING?)
4. SOME TIME LATER, WITNESSES TO THREE OF THE SCENES COME FORTH AND SAY,
'BLACK BELT WAS ATTACKED FIRST'. COPS INQUIRE FURTHER, HOPEFULLY: ATTACKED
HOW? WITH A WEAPON? AFTER ALL, USE OF DEADLY PHYSICAL FORCE IS JUSTIFIED ONLY
IF THE ATTACKER IS THREATENING THE INTENDED VICTIM WITH IMMINENT DEADLY
PHYSICAL FORCE HIMSELF. SO IF BLACK BELT WAS ATTACKED BY AN UNARMED 98 LB
WEAKLING, CRAIG, THEN THE PROSECUTOR WAS WRONG, AND THE BLACK BELTS SHOULD BE
CHARGED. I DOUBT SUCH WAS THE CASE. JUSTICE WAS SERVED.
5. NO SUCH WITNESSES COME FORTH IN THE OTHER THREE CASES, SO ALL THE POLICE
HAVE IN THEIR FILES IS A REPORT THAT SAYS, 'BLACK BELT ADMITTEDLY KILLED JOHN
DOE WITH A KARATE CHOP TO THE NECK, CLAIMING HE DID SO IN SELF-DEFENSE. STORY
UNCORROBARATED. DEAD VICTIM REFUSES TO COOPERATE. SO THE MURDER CHARGE STICKS,
FOR THE TIME BEING.
6. NOW, LO AND BEHOLD! THERE IS A PROCEEDING, CRAIG! YES, REPLETE WITH DUE
PROCESS, AND ALL THE OTHER BELLS AND WHISTLES THE CONSTITUTION ALLOWS! NOW,
WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT A SUPERSTAR ATTORNEY CAN PROBABLY OUTDEFEND AN
INEXPERIENCED (OR JUST PLAIN BAD) ATTORNEY, ITS ALSO TRUE THAT MOST ATTORNEYS
ARE SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT SPECTRUM, AND AFFORD A CRIMINAL DEFENDANT
COMPETENT REPRESENTATION. THE THREE ACCUSED MURDERERS, IF INDIGENT, WILL
LIKELY GET A "DECENT" LAWYER AND A FAIR TRIAL. REMEMBER, DUE PROCESS IS REAL,
REAL GOOD AT PROTECTING PEOPLE; THAT'S WHY THERE ARE SO FEW INNOCENT PEOPLE
WHO ARE CONVICTED OF CRIMES. IF THE THREE ACCUSED MURDERERS CAN NOT BRING
WITNESSES TO THEIR DEFENSE, THEN WHAT'S A JUDGE TO DO? HMMM...PERHAPS LOOK AT
THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE! YEAH, THAT'S IT! NOW IF EACH OF THE ACCUSED
MURDERERS HAD DEALT THE DEADLY BLOW TO THE BACKS OF THE NECKS OF THEIR VICTIMS
ONLY MINUTES AFTER HE HAD SAID TO SOMEONE IN HIS KUNG FU CLASS THAT HE WAS
GONNA KILL THE MAN WHO STOLE HIS GIRLFRIEND, WHY THEN... ETC, ETC, .... YOU
SEE CRAIG? LAWYERS AND JUDGES, WITH THEIR $100,000 DOLLAR EDUCATIONS, ARE A
LITTLE SMARTER THAN YOU THINK, AND ARE ALWAYS A FEW STEPS AHEAD OF
E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y . . ..
JUSTICE IS ALMOST ALWAYS SERVED...IF WE AS A PEOPLE DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT, THERE
WOULD BE HAVE BEEN A REVOLUTION IN THIS COUNTRY LONG AGO.
DANIEL DORRY, STILL ESQUIRE
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