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由juin于2010年9月29日转发在mitbbs枪版。
Original link:
http://www.arms-cool.net/forum/archiver/tid-56928-page-2.html
by Code3Cover (a senior Chinese-American Law Enforcement Officer)
I'm a police officer in California.
What I can tell you is this --
What happens after a defensive-shooting in California will largely depend on your local jurisdiction.
While it is true that California law does not require you to retreat in your own home, it does not automatically make shooting an intruder legal. Killing someone in your home, even when justified, is still homicide, and will be treated as such by your local police.
If this happens in my jurisdiction, this is what will happen to you -
First of all, I will seize your gun as evidence. In fact, I may seize every gun in your house during the investigation.
If there's a dead body (bad guy), your house has just become a homicide crime scene. This means every one in your household will be asked to leave the house until the crime scene unit releases the scene.
On-call homicide detective will be called to the scene.
The detective will interview you.
What happens next depends on what the situation looks like and what you say.
If you say nothing (perfectly within your right to remain completely silent), the detective will have no choice but to physically arrest you and take you to the station for further interview.
If your story fits the scene and it's clearly a justified shoot, you may remain free when the detective forwards the case to the DA and wait for the DA's decision to prosecute or not (this can take days to weeks).
If your story is fishy and this may turn out to be a bad shoot, you will be physically arrested and need to post bail to get out of jail while we wait for the DA's decision on whether or not to prosecute you.
In any case, be prepared for a civil lawsuit.
Oh, and you probably won't get your gun back in any case.
There is alot of mistry and misunderstandings when it comes to what happens after a defensive shooting at home -- from both sides. I will try to tell you what goes through the responding officer's minds from a law enforcement perspective. Obviously things will defer in different jurisdictions.
Believe it or not, when I respond to a home shooting. My goal is to do what I can to let the homeowner stay out of jail. Unfortunately, home owners don't help themselves sometimes.
First of all, I agree that you should not make any detailed statements at the scene without a lawyer. However, you need to say SOMETHING generic to describe the basic scene -- "I am the homeowner. Here's the bad guy. He broke in. I was in fear of my and my family's lives. Here's the gun I shot him with. I prefer not to make any more statements at this time." Then shut up. This basic scene decription is what police officers do when we get into an on-duty shooting. We then wait for our union lawyers before we make any further statements. Police officers understand this when we respond to home shootings. We know the homeowners are the good guys in most cases. The generic statement of "I am the homeowner, here's the bad guy, he broke
in, I was in fear of my life" basically confirms the officers general belief. It is also vague enough without details to get you into trouble later on.
But, if you say absolutely not a single word, the officer will have nothing except an apparent homicide to go on, with you as the shooter. For all the officer knew, the dead bad guy could be your boss whom you lured to your house to shoot. If we roll up on scene and find a dead body and a shooter who does not say a single word, we have no choice but to take the shooter into custody as a homicide suspect. You will then be taken away from the scene right away (you don't want that. This sets the tone of the investigation).
Now, as to whether or not we take all the guns in the house -- here's what happens. When there is a shooting, the crime scene is secured. This means, first and foremost, everyone in the house will be asked to leave. You will not be allowed to re-enter your house until the crime scene unit releases the scene -- this may take hours to days. Once declared a crime scene, EVERYTHING in it is fair game to inspect and seize. We will routinely request a warrant to open any locked containers that may contain a weapon. I've never heard a judge turning down a warrant request in these cases. And I can usually get that warrant within 30 minutes.
Whether or not we take all the weapons in the house will depend on two major factors (keep in mind some departments routinely take all weapons regardless for various reasons) -
1) How sure are we that the gun you said you used is the actual gun that you used. Some homeowners may not want to give up a $4,000 Wilson Combat... and stage the scene to make it look like they used a High Point. This also means that if you say absolutely nothing - not a single word - Then we have no choice but to impound every gun in the house.
2) Whether or not we arrest the homeowner on scene. If we arrest the home owner on scene, we will take every gun in the house. Once charged, the homeowner may no longer legally possess any firearms. Once the owner is arrested, we are obligated to investigate every gun in the house.
Again, this is not meant to be an "us vs them" type of response. I am merely trying to describe what goes through an officer's mind from a law enforcement perspective.
When I respond to a home shooting, my priorities are 1) make sure good guys are safe. 2) secure the scene 3) do what I can not to jam the homeowner. I understand that the homeowners are the good guys in vast majority of cases and I do NOT want to jam them. I will do what I can to help "set the tone" of the investigation to paint the homeowner in good light. This means that the first few minutes of the encounter are very important. I do NOT want to have to take the home owner into custody. And I CERTAINLY DO NOT want to spend the rest of the night doing SEIZURE inventory logs on the homeowners gun safe.
btw, one of the things I recommend is to keep a few guns "off site" from your house.
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发表于 2013-5-22 09:31
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发表于 2013-5-22 11:48