# If Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno, why was he in a CA prison? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823 "2005-03-10T13:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/21 "2005-03-10T23:41:38Z")
What if he shot him in Reno, and then the guy staggered over the border to California, and the he followed him, just to watch him die? Who gets to try him then? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/22 "2005-03-10T23:59:29Z")
I like **pravnik** ’s better. He shot the guy in Reno just to watch him die. but the guy was taking too long to die, and he realized that he was late for an appointment (birthday party, root canal, job interview, I dunno; make up your own appointment) in California. So he loaded him into the car and drove to the other side of the lake. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/23 "2005-03-11T00:09:18Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > What if he shot him in Reno, and then the guy staggered over the border to California, and the he followed him, just to watch him die? Who gets to try him then? Depends on how the law is written. At common law, jurisdiction lies in the place where the fatal force impinges on the body (there’s a 1859 case where a guy shot in New York and died in New Jersey), but modern stautes usually say that if any element of the crime occurred there, the state has jurisdiction. Some states have statutes like the following from New York, which I lifted from an old thread: > [@](#): > > S 20.20 Geographical jurisdiction of offenses; jurisdiction of state. > 2. Even though none of the conduct constituting such offense may have occurred within this state: > (a) The offense committed was a result offense and the result occurred within this state. If the offense was one of homicide, it is presumed that the result, namely the death of the victim, occurred within this state if the victim`s body or a part thereof was found herein; So theoretically, both states could have jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/24 "2005-03-11T00:10:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I like **pravnik** ’s better. He shot the guy in Reno just to watch him die. but the guy was taking too long to die, and he realized that he was late for an appointment (birthday party, root canal, job interview, I dunno; make up your own appointment… All three at once. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/25 "2005-03-11T01:47:10Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > What if he shot him in Reno, and then the guy staggered over the border to California, and the he followed him, just to watch him die? Who gets to try him then? If a rooster lays an egg on the peak of a roof, which way does it roll? 😃 I remember Johnny saying that, when he wrote that line, he wanted to come up with the absolute worst possible reason to kill somebody. “Just to watch him die” is what came out. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/26 "2005-03-11T03:06:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Cash wrote the song in [1956](http://www.toptown.com/hp/66/folsom.htm), the prison concert wasn’t until 1968. [All Music](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:pxoibkd96akv~T1) asserts that he wrote the song while in the Air Force during the Korean War. He left the Air Force in '54. My favorite song on _At Folsom Prison_ is _Cocaine Blues_. He gets the inmates so worked up, they sound like they are ready to bust out of the place. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/27 "2005-03-11T07:11:55Z")
If you were standing in California and shot a man in Reno, you’d have to be using artillery. It’s close, but not _that_ close. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/28 "2005-03-11T09:35:01Z")
So Johnny Cash also didn’t take a shot of cocaine and shoot his woman down? Dang. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/29 "2005-03-11T09:55:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, the only California town that really scans is Fresno. Let’s try it > > “I shot a man in Fresno… just to watch him die.” If you were in Fresno, wouldn’t you shoot yourself instead? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/30 "2005-03-11T11:42:43Z")
I did time at Folsom - high school to be exact. Back then, the prison was a major employer. Many of my high school buddies fathers were guards. Most were pretty heavy drinkers to be polite about it. Many of the people in my high school ended up as either guards or inmates. The address of Folsom prison is actually a town called “Represa California.” I’ve been inside the “gated” community of Represa many a time. Heck, that’s where we stored the homecoming float so other grades couldn’t sabatoge it since you have to get in through a guarded gate and it is technically part of the prison. There is no escaping modern life, Folsom prison now has a mission statement: Folsom State Prison - Mission Statement California’s second oldest prison, Folsom primarily houses Level II and Level III inmates. In addition, it has a minimum security unit. At Folsom, a walled perimeter encompasses five general population cell blocks and an Administrative Segregation Unit. This portion of the prison includes one of the state’s best-known prison industries, the license plate factory. Mark Shepherd, Warden (A) 300 Prison Road Represa, CA 95671 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/31 "2005-03-11T13:56:47Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > What if he shot him in Reno, and then the guy staggered over the border to California, and the he followed him, just to watch him die? Who gets to try him then? Longest stagger since the “Baatan Death March”! It would be all uphill, too! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/32 "2005-03-11T15:08:29Z")
> [@NattoGuy](#): > > So Johnny Cash also didn’t take a shot of cocaine and shoot his woman down? > > Dang. Maybe he shot the deputy? ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/33 "2005-03-11T15:28:29Z")
No, he shot the sheriff… but he didn’t shoot the deputy. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/34 "2005-03-11T15:42:33Z")
> [@Mycroft H.](#): > > No, he shot the sheriff… but he didn’t shoot the deputy. Wow, Johnny Cash was really Bob Marley. It true, you _never_ saw them together, and they \*are \* both dead… ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/35 "2005-03-11T15:47:26Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Wow, Johnny Cash was really Bob Marley. It true, you _never_ saw them together, and they \*are \* both dead… _Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds. Have no fear for atomic energy, ’cause none of them can stop the time. And let that cocaine BEEEEEE!_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/36 "2005-03-11T16:14:28Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Wow, Johnny Cash was really Bob Marley. It true, you _never_ saw them together, and they \*are \* both dead… And I’ve seen Johnny Cash’s house halfway between Montego Bay & Ocho Rios in…Jamaica! Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/37 "2005-03-11T16:35:19Z")
I always thought he shot a Californian and hit the guy in his Renal. This thread sure put that to rest. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823/38 "2005-03-11T16:42:42Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Wow, Johnny Cash was really Bob Marley. It true, you _never_ saw them together, and they \*are \* both dead… :cue reggae music: “I fell into a burning ring of fire, mon…” (Background: A yo yo yo) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-johnny-cash-shot-a-man-in-reno-why-was-he-in-a-ca-prison/293823.md?page=1)