# Would you vote to convict?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 26, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941 "2016-09-26T16:43:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941/41 "2016-09-29T21:29:55Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> Absolutely I could give days if he were in pursuit or in transit.

Naw, once he is out of sight, just report it to the police.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941/42 "2016-09-29T23:05:55Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Naw, once he is out of sight, just report it to the police.

Possibly the use of “he” is ambiguous, here. Picture a husband who comes home from a business trip (or a military deployment, for that matter) and finds out his wife was brutally raped several weeks earlier by someone known to both of them. Almost immediately (i.e. in under an hour), the husband finds and confronts the alleged assailant and kills him. Even though there was immediate danger to the wife at the time the husband gained this knowledge, I can picture evaluating the reasonableness of his belief that his wife was raped (it is possible that if he was relying on her word alone, she was lying or exaggerating) and considering it _if I was legally permitted to do so when weighing a verdict on a specific charge_. If the legal definition of “First Degree Murder” doesn’t include a “heat of passion” exception, then I’d have to consider the husband’s motivation legally irrelevant.

I gather a lot would come down to the judge’s instructions. Wouldn’t it be his or her responsibility to spell exactly what elements must be satisfied to sustain a guilty verdict on a specific charge?

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**Author:** ![Oddball\_92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b3f665/32.png) [@Oddball\_92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oddball_92)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941/43 "2016-09-30T00:41:50Z")

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Nope, not if there was I was 100% sure the rapist actually committed the rape. Maybe I would convict of some lesser included offense, but not murder.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-to-convict/766941/44 "2016-10-01T03:31:58Z")

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> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Even though there was immediate danger to the wife at the time

Should read: “Even though there was NO immediate danger to the wife at the time”

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