So I am on a lonely road in Florida and I shoot some guy dead. No witness of any kind. If I say he attacked me, how much chance is there that I would be charged? Should I be charged? What facts would affect those questions?
I mean obviously if someone found my diary where I promised to kill the guy then I am in trouble. What if there was known animosity between us? What if I have got into a few random bar fights? What if the guy I shot was a priest? I have no idea why we both happened to be at that rest stop.
It’s up to the prosecution to prove all the elements of the crime. If you’re not talking and the physical evidence doesn’t give them more information then they can’t succeed in making a case.
Yes, I contact the police within half an hour - in my initial daze I forgot I had left my cell phone in my jacket in the car. And these message board posts do not form an admission of any kind other than he totally attacked me first when I had to shoot him.
What did you argue about before, and what did you argue about before he attacked you?
Regards,
Shodan
PS - You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you on the SDMB. You have the right to an attorney, and to have one present during any questioning. If you so desire and cannot afford one, maybe Bricker will take pity on you.
The defendant has the burden of production for self-defense. That is, the prosecution does not have to disprove self-defense unless the defendant introduces some evidence tending to show self-defense. That evidence can be testimonial.
This burden has been described as slight, and the fact-finder may not simply reject the defendant’s not-completely-impossible testimony that he needed to use self-defense without any rebuttal evidence. So, a defendant who testified that an otherwise docile old lady was about to kill him would have met his burden of production. A defendant who testified that an alien spacecraft landed and its occupants killed the victim would not have met his burden of production.
Once the burden of production has been met, the burden of persuasion (disproving self defense beyond reasonable doubt) remains on the prosecution.
The prosecution need not meet that burden with direct evidence, however. A case may be made exclusively with circumstantial evidence that rebuts the credibility of the claimant’s testimony and proves the elements beyond reasonable doubt.
In order to sustain the conviction on appeal, a reviewing court must be able to point to some evidence (direct or circumstantial) that would reasonably support a fact-finder’s decision to find the defendant’s testimony not credible. A fact-finder may not simply decline to find a defendant credible without any evidence rebutting his testimony. This is the corollary of the rule that the defendant has the burden of production, but not persuasion, when asserting self-defense.
Well what about this case, Kimmy_Gibbler? ISTM that by your description, my burden HAS been met. I assume they wouldn’t try to charge me until they found something. What sort of evidence in a case like this could be used? I assume discovering I had some powerful motive for wanting the guy dead might do it.
For Shodan: I was out hiking all afternoon. When I pulled up to the rest area he pulled in 2 minutes later. He screams “You gonna die for what you did”. I said “Hey hold on, friend. What has you so upset?” He growled and leaped at me, going for my throat. We grappled but I felt myself losing to him. Somehow I managed to get my gun out and shoot him. On reflection, he might have been mad that I was sleeping with his wife.