Watching an episode of The First 48, which documents / dramatizes the first 48 hours of investigation following a crime. In one case, two guys went to another guy’s house to sell a gun. The buyer tries to rob the sellers at gunpoint, the sellers run, and one of them returns fire with his own gun. The other seller ends up shot and dead.

Slugs are recovered. The seller turns over his cartridges so that they can be differentiated from the buyer’s. Interesting twist: the bullet that killed the victim came from the seller’s gun. He was shooting basically behind his back while he was running, not really looking where he was firing. Somewhere in there, he hit his friend and killed him.

This is a fascinating example of how the laws relating to lethal force play out. There is a specific crime, in some jurisdictions, called felony murder. Basically, if somebody dies as the result of you committing a felony, you can be charged with their murder. Example: Ted and Bill conspire to rob the Quick-Stop (a felony). The shop-keeper shoots Ted and kills him. Bill can be charged with felony murder of Ted, even though the shopkeeper is the one who actually shot him.

The detective eventually finds the buyer and brings him in. He slowly wheedles him away, getting him to admit to being there, then getting him to admit to having a gun, then getting him to admit to firing the gun, then, finally, he says, “Look, you didn’t want to kill anybody, I know that. You weren’t going to hurt anybody. And I know you didn’t shoot him. That bullet came from Leroy’s gun, not yours. You were just going to take the gun and you didn’t want to pay for it, and then things got all out of hand, right?” The guy says, yeah.

The buyer thinks he’s getting off easy now. He admits to that, and writes a statement to that effect.

Gotcha.

You see, trying to steal the gun is a felony. And since he admitted that he was committing a felony at the time that Leroy died, he’s going to get charged with murder.

The irony is that the buyer probably could have stipulated to all the facts–that he fired, that he was there to buy the gun, and so forth–and he wouldn’t have broken any laws. Here, he thinks he confessing to attempted robbery or something like that, and instead, he goes up for murder.

Now, I’m not saying that this guy shouldn’t be charged with murder, or that he’s not a criminal, or anything like that. I’m just trying to point out how there are all these little intricacies in the law, and the detectives who are interviewing you know them ALL. You? You maybe know one of them. Your lawyer, on the other hand, also knows them ALL. So, you letting yourself be interviewed by the cops is basically like a lamb walking to the slaughter. They have a box that they’re trying to put you in. They know exactly what they need you to stipulate to in order to fit you into that box. And once you stipulate it, you can’t take it back.

So.

If you’re ever taken in for questioning, I suggest you tread very carefully, and maybe get a lawyer before you stipulate to very much.