In this thread, I mentioned that apparently accessory to murder isn’t a serious crime in Sunnydale seeing as how Faith’s in jail and Buffy isn’t. Rather than hijack that thread, I’d like to ask the opinions of the Teeming Millions on this important subject.
I didn’t see the actual episode, but from reading recaps it went like this:
Buffy and Faith broke into a building.
Faith ran into somebody she knew.
Faith killed him.
There was no scene of Buffy being questioned by the police where she gladly copped a plea to a lesser crime so as to get off.
There exists the possibility that Faith took the hit for her and didn’t even mention Buffy was there.
Principal Snyder also mentioned once that the Sunnydale Police are very stupid.
This was discussed on another message board moderated by a California appellate lawyer, and her opinion was that Buffy was an accessory to second-degree murder while breaking and entering, which is a very jailable offense in California, as opposed to staking all those vamps, which mostly amounts to littering. That would just carry a hefty fine.
First of all, Buffy is a superhero fantasy, and superheroes never go into jail.
However, if you want to pretend it’s real, it’s always the D.A.'s discretion whether to prosecute. He or she may have decided that they didn’t want to. Alternatively, since Buffy was a witness, they could have offered her immunity in return for her testimony.
As to why there was no scene, I’ll simply quote Hitchcock: “Because that would be dull.” It would also have been unimportant to the plot of the episode.
Yes, no, and yes. Two separate events, two separate evenings.
Buffy and Faith break into a store and try to steal a knife and a bow, but are stopped by the police, taken into custody, and cuffed. As they’re going to the station, B&F knock out the mesh between the seats and knock out the officers, causing the car to crash.
Next night, they’re in an alley fighting vamps. Allen, the mayor’s lackey, is there and Faith accidentally kills him. Thus begins her switch to the dark side- she is clearly guilty at first, but hardens herself against the guilt.
There is no mention of the body ever being found, and with the sheer number of disappearances in Sunnyhell, chances are the guy’s not even missed aside from the mayor’s mention during his invincibility spell (one can assume, however, that Faith told the mayor what she’d done). No body, no crime, no charges.
A more appropriate question would be why on earth the police didn’t go looking for B&F after the break-in. After all, they did pretty significant damage to the store, the police car, and the car they crashed into, not to mention the assault on a police officer.
Faith is in jail for her actions in LA, not for Sunnydale. Given a few moments, I can find the reference for you.
This, at least, is not true. The episode after the killing - “Consequences” - has Buffy coming downstairs after a bad dream to find her mother watching a news report on the finding of the body.
Here we go… in her brief stay in Los Angeles, Faith:
seriously beat (we find out later he’s in the hospital) a man, stole his wallet, jacket, and house keys
started a bar brawl
beat a Wolfram and Hart lawyer against a table
shot Angel (some property damage involved as well)
got into another brawl where she hospitalized another man and broke a policeman’s jaw with his own handcuffs
tortured Wesley, plus the damage to 1st guy’s apartment while beating the hell out of Angel
However, it is mentioned by several people (Lindsay, Kate, in a TV news program, etc) that a felony arrest warrant from Sunnydale exists for Faith. Tracing it back, we know that she left a woman at the hospital unconscious and naked when she first woke up. But then a cop makes the following remark: “You knew this woman was wanted for questioning on a series of murders…” So the warrent pre-dates her coma. The only person we know of that Faith killed was Allen. But she was working for the mayor for some time- we don’t know what she did for him.
That said… I still think Faith is in jail for the LA stuff, not the SD stuff (considering she was never extradited to SD for trial). But I could be wrong.
You are absolutely right- I spaced on Faith trying to pin the murder on Buffy when it was discovered that a slayer did it. Which of course led to Wesley trying to kidnap Faith and take her to the Council, and the death of Mr. Trick.
In Graduation Day Part 1 Faith killed Professor Lester. In that same epidsode, Buffy went to Faith’s penthouse apartment intending to kill and feed her to Angel. Buffy and Faith fought, with the fight ending when Buffy stuck Faith’s knife into Faith’s gut and Faith fell from the apartment into a passing truck. Therefore theoretically, Faith could be tried for Lester’s murder and Buffy for attempting to kill Faith. Faith could claim self defense against Buffy, since Buffy went to Faith’s apartment looking for a fight.
I’ve sometimes wondered if the Sunnydale hellmouth might not radiate some sort of area effect similar to that in King’s IT, where the residents of Derry tended to forget about all of the horrible things that went on in the town and the events never got much media profile outside of the town.
OTOH, it would have been in the Mayor’s interests to have the Sunnydale police either loyal or dumb… or both.
As to why the cops didn’t pursue Faith and Buffy for breaking into the sporting goods store: IIRC, they both clearly demonstrated their superstrength in breaking out of the cop car. I think the cops probably have a standing order to look the other way in supernatural crimes, so as not to accidentally interfere in the Mayors plans.
Can’t be a vampire without dying, and dead people have no rights. Which raises the question as to Buffy’s legal status, having been dead for three months. Good thing they had that Buffybot to cover up her demise.
Actually, Anya’s legal status is more interesting. A thousand year-old vengeance demon suddenly becme human. So no birth certificate, no school records, no paper trail of any kind. It’ll be interesting to see her try to get a marriage license.
However, when Anya first appeared, and was still a demon, she could (and did) alter the past. At that time she was masquerading as a student enrolled in the high school. She might have created a persona (with all the necessary papers) and then was forced to keep it. She must have a tax-payer ID number as well as all the stuff you need to (reseller license, business license) own a shop. It would be interesting to see the writers follow the thread you’ve got here, but I don’t know how they would make it funny.
Sorry for the hijack, I never considered of Anya’s legal status before.
I think previous posters have hit the nail on the head; Buffy’s not in jail because it would make for a boring show. Asking why she isn’t in jail is like asking why in God’s name anyone would even live in Sunnydale, let alone ever be out at night to give the vamps something to chew on. How many times has something disastrous happened at the Bronze, but it’s always crowded for the next time. And can you imagine the life insurance premiums for Sunnydale residents?
As to a rationalization, the Initiative showed that the feds are aware of Sunnydale’s unique properties and the presence of the Slayer, the schemes of the Mayor indicated that the Sunnydale police turn a blind eye to certain activities. Buffy’s not in jail because any law enforcement agency that has the ability to put here there has chosen not to.
Re killing vampires, not only are they already dead, but when you kill them, they turn to dust, leaving no body behind. Person already dead plus no body to be found – I’d say that adds up to no murder investigation. And really, no murder to investigate.
