Recent Shooting

There was an incident in Florida recently that worries me.  It worries me because it involves self-defense laws and carry laws and gives the anti-gun lobby ammunition.  It also worries me because it again reminds me how little, we as citizens understand our rights concerning self-defense and how our legal system works. 

First off, I doubt we know all the facts, because all the facts are almost never made public knowledge, but based on the evidence currently in circulation it seems clear that the individual involved was not acting in self-defense.  Florida self-defense laws may differ from Tennessee, but I doubt any state would uphold a self-defense plea where the defendant pursued the other person.  At that point, the other person is retreating and is no threat, by pursuing the defendant is escalating the situation and has become the aggressor.  The fact that the dispatcher told the man to stop the pursuit makes his case even weaker.  Neighborhood watch or not, the man is not a sworn police officer and has no right to detain an individual, much less pursue and apprehend him.

But on the other hand, while the public outrage is understandable, the outcry will get the politicians involved and as a general rule, politicians are only interested in appearances not really outcomes.  When publicity is allowed to run a legal case, you end up with things like the OJ trial.  Who knows what would have happened if the police and DA in that case had been left alone to build a case on their own?  Instead things were rushed and the defense was able to poke enough holes in the case to get an acquittal.

One of the issues is the fact that there hasn't been an arrest.  That actually, at least in Tennessee isn't that unusual.  The reason why seems odd, but it involves the way most of the US court systems are designed.  First off, every state may be a bit different, but probably not much.  Most states have different levels of courts.  As a general rule most states have counties or parishes.  There is usually a city court, with a judge elected or appointed who hears cases involving city ordinances and possibly city traffic offenses.  Sometimes there is a traffic courts.  Next there is usually a county court with appointed or elected judges.  This court generally hears certain types of contract disputes, misdemeanor criminal offenses and acts as a preliminary court in a lot of civil and criminal matters.  In larger populated areas the courts may be specialized or have special sessions.  In my area of the country this is referred to as General Sessions Court. The next level would be the state courts.  Usually these courts are divided into Chancery and Criminal Courts.  In some areas, judges may handle more than one county and it is called a Circuit Court.  There is usually a special court for Juvenile Justice, although sometimes the Family Court section of the Chancery Court will handle that as well.

If an arrest is made the court of jurisdiction is usually the General Sessions Court.  What then happens is a series of court appearances which usually lead up to a preliminary hearing where the Judge determines if the matter can be settle in General Sessions or not.  Felony matters, crimes involving a year or more of incarceration or community supervision, fall under state court jurisdiction.  How long this process can take depends on the individual judge and local practices, but in many cases can last a year or more.  This can involve a great many court appearances for witnesses.  It is unfortunately open to abuse.  If it is determined that the case is the jurisdiction of the state, or if it can't be settled in sessions court, it is bound over to the grand jury.  The defense can pretty much at any time ask that it be bound over.  This is actually another defense tactic to stall.  It will now have to wait until the case can be presented to the next available Grand Jury.  If the prosecution and defense agree there is a case and it falls under state jurisdiction, and they have a plea agreement, they can ask that it be moved to state court without a grand jury, this is called pleading by information.

A lot of people think a Grand Jury has something to do with guilt of innocence.  It doesn't.  All a Grand Jury does it look at the evidence the prosecution is planning to present and determine if there is enough there to justify a hearing.  They don't see or hear anything from the defense and they don't necessarily see all the prosecution's case.  The state wants to present enough evidence to get an indictment or a true bill, that is all.

In cases where an investigation is turned over to the District Attorney's office, the state investigators don't usually arrest anyone immediately.  They usually build a case then present it to a grand jury directly, bypassing the whole General Sessions Court.  If the Grand Jury returns a true bill, it is in the form of what is called a "pickup" indictment.  This indictment acts as the arrest warrant and the case is instantly in
Criminal Court.  This greatly cuts down on the number of court appearances for the witnesses, so law enforcement likes to do this.  This is how most of the more serious offenses in my section of the country are handled.  It offers the advantage that the investigators have time to build a case, where with the intial arrest, you have court appearances eating into your time and you have to have your case ready on a particular date.  Any new information you developed may result in setting the case back as you present it to the court, ect.  Also the officers hate sitting in court, because you rarely have the luxury of showing up just before they hear your case and leaving immediately after. You could easily kill a whole day in court only to find out you weren't needed. Another advantage is the person under investigation may think he is free and clear and might do or say something to help convict him.  Also people connect to him would not be as guarded as if he were already involved in being prosecuted.    The disadvantage to this is that from the time the investigation starts until the person is picked up on the indictment, it doesn't look like much is happening.

Anyway, I wouldn't throw too big a fit because no one was arrested yet.  It isn't likely it isn't being investigated, just likely they intend to sneak it through a grand jury first.  Let them make a good case.  Don't forget it though.  I could be wrong and this seems like a case that needs justice.