# so I am on a lonely road in Florida **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281 "2013-07-12T03:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/21 "2013-07-12T22:05:57Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > 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. > > But he totally attacked me. Just sayin Well…are you white, and he was black? If the zimmerman verdict is not guilty, then in that case, you’ve got a decent chance on getting off. Especially if you pinky swear that it was the other guy’s fault. Now, if you’re black, don’t even look sideways at the guy, and especially, do NOT take a walk, even if you’re just walking home, DONT do it… ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/22 "2013-07-12T22:45:38Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > 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. In the case as you describe, it is hard to imagine what evidence might exist to rebut your allegation of self-defense, but there could be circumstantial evidence. The law of character evidence and prior bad acts is fairly complicated, but these are potential sources as well (whether they will refute self defense beyond reasonable doubt is a tall order though). Often the circumstantial evidence pertains to the defendant’s behavior after the incident. Did he evade the police or did he swiftly notify the authorities of the incident? If the physical evidence tends to contradict the defendant’s account (say the defendant testifies that he shot from a crouching position because the victim was overbearing him, and the physical evidence shows that the victim was shot by someone standing upright), those inconsistencies will reduce the defendant’s credibility. Evidence of motivation can be used to impeach the credibility of the defendant. But again, the state must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, so just showing that two parties had animosity doesn’t seem to eliminate doubt that self defense may have been necessary. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/23 "2013-07-13T13:52:42Z")
Thanks kimmy\_gibbler. Was trying to get a handle on how it would work in a ‘clean’ scenario. Less thanks to those who can’t help race baiting. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/24 "2013-07-13T14:14:32Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > 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. I am Detective **Shodan** , and I am one of the investigators in this case. I want to thank you for coming in, **CarnalK** , and reiterate that you are not under arrest, and that you are speaking with us of your own free will, and that you can have a lawyer if you want one. I’ll be honest with you. I have a problem with your account. First off, I have checked our database, and I don’t see that you have a concealed carry permit in the state of Florida. So that’s going to be a problem for you - a pretty big one. Maybe we can minimize this, maybe not - it really depends on what you do from now on. You haven’t given us much of an account of how you came to shoot him. And the trouble is, we know already that you aren’t being completely truthful about what happened. For instance, when you first told us about what happened, you claimed [QUOTE=CarnalK] I don’t know why he attacked me - I couldn’t understand what he was screaming at me. [/QUOTE] We know both these things aren’t true. You first claimed it was local politics, but now you admit you were sleeping with his wife. First you claimed you couldn’t understand what he was saying, and now you are giving us exact quotes. These can’t all be true, so already we got a problem. You claim he went for your throat and tried to kill you. But there isn’t a mark on your throat. How was he going to kill you without touching your throat? So there’s that too. We checked his background, and the guy you killed doesn’t have any record, or any history of violence. We can’t seem to find any other time that he just attacked someone out of the blue like you claim he did. And under Florida law, if you are going to claim self-defense you have to come up with a “scintilla” of evidence to support it. And there doesn’t seem to be any. You don’t have any evidence that he was trying to kill you, no other witnesses, no serious injuries - nothing. I guess you didn’t know this, but the rest area where you did it is a pretty high-crime area, and we installed video cameras. Now I haven’t seen the video, yet - I wanted to talk to you before I did that. What I am going to need you to do is start all over, right from the beginning, and give us a detailed step-by-step of what went on. This time, you are going to need to be absolutely honest, even if it doesn’t look real good. It’s your only chance, because we can check what you say, this time, and compare it to the tape and the evidence and see if we can believe you, or not. So, let’s begin from the top. You claim you were hiking. When did you start? Why did you pick that area? Why were you carrying a gun? Did you see anyone hiking who can back your story up? How did this guy know where you would be? Did you tell his wife where you would be? Of course we will be speaking with her, and checking what she says against what you say. Why did you make such a point of telling his wife? Did you arrange with her that she would tell him you two were sleeping together during a time where you were someplace isolated? So that you could meet him somewhere that nobody else was around? Like I say, this is going to be pretty much the last time we can help you. So once more from the top, and this time be honest. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/25 "2013-07-13T14:18:00Z")
It happened like I said. I am not worried about the video. Can I see my lawyer now? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/26 "2013-07-13T16:08:09Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > It happened like I said. I am not worried about the video. Can I see my lawyer now? Like I said, you’re not under arrest. You say “it happened like you said”. “Like you said” which time? I think it would be easiest if you told us the whole story, right from the beginning. Because, like I said, we are talking to this guy’s wife, and it might be better for you to get your side of the story out there. Because she isn’t backing you up. You are in a lot of trouble, and you might want to make things easier for yourself. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/27 "2013-07-14T00:48:08Z")
You’re not under arrest, get up and leave. Then go see your lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281/28 "2013-07-14T02:19:18Z")
I think **Shodan** ’s point, and is it a good one, is the cops conducting interrogations are pretty practiced in a “Hey, we know you just got in over your head, and we have some evidence of that, but if you talk to us about what really happened, we can help you out, so will you do that for us?” mode of questioning that is very effective at getting people to come clean. Too effective. In my criminal procedure class, we saw a video of an interrogation conducted in that fashion. The cops got the poor bastard redneck to admit that “Yeah, maybe I did get really angry and kill my girlfriend.” Subsequent physical evidence showed conclusively that the defendant could not have committed the crime. We get a lot of false confessions out of this approach. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-on-a-lonely-road-in-florida/663281.md?page=1)