Quote:
Originally Posted by duffee
Plus, if there is evidence that he did in fact manipulate the crime scene, that’s a clear indication of consciousness of guilt, i.e., that he was aware what he did was wrong.
Eh, not necessarily. If the argument is temporary insanity, then realization after the fact that he had done something wrong doesn't necessarily prove that he knew that he was wrong at the time of the shooting. It's obviously something the prosecution will argue though, and might ring true with a jury.
With the qualification that I 100% think this guy is a horrible human and I want him to rot in prison (I'm against the death penalty), his defense attorneys will have some pretty strong options depending on the charges. I'll go through my (somewhat drunken) analysis of the various charges.
Murder 1: For murder 1, you need premeditated intentional killing. Someone mentioned earlier that premeditation can be a split second thought of killing before the killing takes place. True. With that said, I think the prosecution has a hard time convincing a jury that this killing was premeditated. It goes against the common perception of premeditatation, and combined with the public bias in favor of police officers, it's a tough case.
Murder 2: Need to prove intentional, but not premeditated, killing. Murder 2 seems more likely to me. It's a slam dunk if it weren't for....
Voluntary manslaughter: Intentional manslaughter is an intentional killing that's committed in the "heat of passion". I think defense attorneys can make a strong case for this if it's shown that there was actually a struggle over the taser, or some other factor that shows the officer was legitimately riled up. I'm in no state to look into case law to find out what kind of standards there are to determine what qualifies as a "heat of passion" crime, but my gut feeling is that there's a decent case for that here.
Involuntary manslaughter: No. The killing here was obviously intentional.
I think, as disappointing as it is, the most likely outcome is an involuntary manslaughter conviction.