The Professor
Diamond Member
- Mar 4, 2011
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Police shot and killed an unarmed black man in his own backyard. All he was holding was a cellphone.
Come on, you knew he was black. Whites can riot, carry semi automatics and the police will do nothing. But arm a young black with a cell phone or Skittles and Republicans will send tens of thousands to the killer's defense fund. Oh, look, his shirt has a hood. How many USMB Republicans will now say he was a thug who deserved what he got?
Stunning victory for Bundy family as all charges dismissed in 2014 standoff case
Remember Bundy? Threatening US Marshals? Armed with rifles?
Then let go.
Imagine if they had been black. It would have been a bloodbath.
You mean yet another dumbass criminal runs from cops, wins Darwin Award.
You're welcome in advance for the correction. Any time.
It's not illegal to run from cops.
You can't possibly be serious. Oh, wait, you really are and someone thanked your post indicated he/she agrees with you!
People who know nothing about the law (this includes you) should not offer their opinions on legal matters. There is always a danger that someone will take you seriously and will get into trouble relying on your advice. Now I have no idea where you got the silly notion that running away from the police to avoid arrest is not a crime. I think you just made it up, but in the event someone else give you this load of bullcrap you need to find better sources of information. Running away from the police can get you in a world of trouble. I have a doctorate in law and passed the Bar on my first attempt; however, you don't have to be a legal expert like me to know running away from the law can be a crime. A person of reasonable intelligence would have know this intuitively.
“The police power to detain and arrest suspects is fairly broad, with a few general limitations. If police officers have a reasonable suspicion that you've committed a crime, they may attempt to arrest you, and evading that arrest may be a crime in and of itself.
“Depending on the circumstances and the state statute involved, the penalties for resisting or evading arrest can be severe. Here's a look at some general principles when it comes to running from police, and the possible consequences.”
Penalty for Running From the Police
Since the case being discussed occurred in California, perhaps a we should get advice from someone who practices law in that state:
“Evading arrest is a serious and punishable crime that violates California Vehicle Code 2800.1. The state of California defines evading arrest as the act of attempting or actively running away from a police officer that has made clear his or her intentions to arrest you. Whether the individual is fleeing by foot or by car, it is unlawful to evade a police officer's right to arrest. Although law enforcement officers may believe that an individual is evading arrest, it may not be the intention of the individual in question.
“Many factors can influence the outcome of such a charge. Was the police officer in full uniform at the time of the arrest? Were there language barriers that made the arrest attempt unclear? In the case of a car chase, was the individual not aware that police vehicles were trying to pull the individual over? Were the visual or audible signals coming from the police vehicles not understood by the person being pursued? Let an experienced Los Angeles criminal attorney from our firm analyze every factor of your arrest.”
Request Rejected
Note, although fleeing the police on foot or in a vehicle in California is a misdemeanor, putting others in danger wile driving a car can be a felony. In other states, merely using a vehicle to evade detention is a felony (see first link above).
Conclusion: A warning to all of you: IM2 says it is not a crime to run away from the police. He (or she, as the case may be) is clearly wrong. If you are running away from the police, the severity of the punishment depends on both the jurisdiction and the type of evasion. It could be either a misdemeanor or a felony, so i suggest each of you check the laws in your own states.
Now that everyone understands that running away from the police is a crime, there are a few more things to discuss. The first thing concerns when police may use deadly force to prevent a suspect from escaping. The controlling case is Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). In that case, the SCOTUS opined that deadly force could not be used against all fleeing suspect. The Court ruled that deadly force can be used only against dangerous felons described as those who have inflicted or threatened to inflict death or serious bodily injury. The only crime young Clark was accused of was trying to break into unoccupied vehicles. That does not make him a dangerous felon by any stretch of the imagination. Had the police shot Clark to prevent his escape, as some posters think they did, they would have been guilty of murder (remember Michael Slager and Walter Scott?).
Finally, the fact that the young man was unarmed is not conclusive evidence of police misconduct. Every jurisdiction allows the Police to use deadly force when they reasonably believe that – at the time such force is used – it is necessary to avoid death or serious bodily injury to themselves or innocent third parties. It doesn't matter whether the perceived threat turns out to be illusory. It only matters that they reasonably believed the threat to be real. Whether such a belief is reasonable is a matter for a jury to decide using the “reasonably prudent man” standard. The jury must determine – given all the attendant circumstances existing at the time – whether the police reasonably believed the device in Clark's hand was a gun.
OK, gang. I have done my best to tell you what the law really says, as opposed to what some of you who have no legal training whatsoever think it says. I said what I wanted to and I am outta here. Fight nice.
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