Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

Re: Police Officer Rights

Hi. Interesting school assignment. I would much rather have your side of the case in court, or in a law school moot court. No, "putting someone out of their misery" is not a good reason for a cop to shoot anybody, no matter how much pain they are in. It is clearly and simply murder....the intentional killing of a human being. "Probably" will die just isn't good enough. Even a doctor will have some legal issues to grapple with before he "turns a person off" on that grounds. A cop sure lacks the medical knowledge or training to make that call. About the only even remotely arguable defense I can think of for that is that it was clearly inevitable the person was going to die (entire head blown to tiny fragments and missing or something like that...or entire torso gone). Then, there could be a serious issue as to cause of death. In murder you must intentionally cause the death. But, if your act speeds it up by even a few moments when a person had even a chance, it's murder. But if the person is essentially moribund at the time the rounds are pumped in, there may be a basis to argue either that the intent was not to kill (as he was, for all practical purposes already dead but perhaps experiencing some primordial nervous system pain) or, in the alternative, that it was not the cause because he was esssntially 100% certain to die within moments anyway, so the shooting was not a substantial contributing factor in the time or inevitability of death. Just keep your eye on the definition: (1) intentional (2) killing (cause) (3) of a human being.

Good luck. And go get em on your assignment. Let me know how you make out.

Re: Police Officer Rights

Oooh! I had it backwards. You're the defense attorney, defending the cop. You have the tough side of the case. I don't envy you. You will have to try to persuade your jury or judge that it was much more than "probably" would die. You will have to convince them that he was in such a bad mess that he was essentially dead or so near dead it was almost indistinguishable from it. And that he had no chance. If you argue probably, you should lose. So, see if you can color the facts as given to be interpreted as this guy was a goner anyway, and like imminently. That's probably your only chance. Don't feel bad if you lose. They gave you the tough assignment. There is an old law school saying...when the law is on your side, argue the law, when the law isn't on your side, argue the facts. Good luck again, and feel free to follow up if you'd like another few pointers and suggestions.