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General Categories => Information Arsenal => Topic started by: JTH on September 18, 2015, 05:35:18 PM

Title: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: JTH on September 18, 2015, 05:35:18 PM
I recently attended an instructor development course with Tom Givens, and unsurprisingly found in it a number of interesting things to think about.

One of the interesting things discussed was what exactly "aggravated assault" was---and how the name itself tends to make us not clearly think (from a self-defense perspective) what it actually MEANS when someone commits that particular crime.

I wrote about it, because it occurred to me that perhaps I'm not the only one missing that particular important point...

https://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/crime-definitions-you-should-think-about/

I always knew what "aggravated assault" meant from a legal perspective--but I hadn't really thought about it from a self-defense perspective.  And that's something I should be doing...
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: Mudinyeri on September 19, 2015, 09:35:09 AM
Enlightening.
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: Mali on September 19, 2015, 04:56:18 PM
Nice article that does make you think about what people are charged with and why the prosecutors might be using that approach.  It also changes the view of the statistics as well.

Thanks!
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: Lmbass14 on September 19, 2015, 05:26:09 PM
Enlightening.


Ditto.  Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: SemperFiGuy on September 19, 2015, 07:11:25 PM
While we're at it, another omnibus crime charge beloved of prosecutors is Terroristic Threats.

Covers everything from bomb threats made about airliners all the way down through and including domestic quarrels between unmarried live-ins.   

And is a felony, to boot.

sfg
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: Kendahl on September 19, 2015, 09:58:40 PM
And is a felony, to boot.

It can also be a misdemeanor. I know of a guy who got involved in a dispute between his neighbors and some strangers who were harassing them. He made some aggressive statements during the confrontation which the strangers were shrewd enough to record. That got him a felony charge of terroristic threats which his lawyer was able to get reduced to a misdemeanor and probation.

The lesson to be learned here is not to get involved in other people's problems. If you can't do that, call the police and stick them with the job of protecting the victims. If you are already involved, try to get your friends and yourself behind locked doors on your own property. You need to present a picture, by word and deed, that you did everything you could to avoid trouble. That sets up the aggressors for charges.
Title: Re: A crime definition most people don't think about much...
Post by: SemperFiGuy on September 20, 2015, 09:26:10 AM
Quote
It can also be a misdemeanor.

Yes.  It's very flexible.   That's why it's so beloved of the prosecutors.

Quote
The lesson to be learned here is not to get involved in other people's problems. If you can't do that, call the police and stick them with the job of protecting the victims. If you are already involved, try to get your friends and yourself behind locked doors on your own property. You need to present a picture, by word and deed, that you did everything you could to avoid trouble. That sets up the aggressors for charges.

Advice that is so very rock solid that I'm taking the liberty of repeating it here.   
NE CHP holder Carl Heng, who recently shot and killed Robert Lane, probably now wishes that he had instead just called 911 and then stayed at home to watch TV.   Now he's in a Great Big Heap of Trouble.   Maybe 20 years worth, or so.

sfg