"citizen arrest" is extremely tricky and you can get arrested if nothing happened. even if you made an honest mistake because you thought he stole something, you can and will be charged with various things such as false imprisonment, aggravated assault with deadly weapon (because Zimmerman had a gun), intimidation and pointing a firearm in public, and few other things... and also get sued for injury and whatnot.
that's why it's rare to hear news relating to citizen's arrest and it's even much much rarer to hear an armed citizen performing citizen arrest. in fact - I've never heard of armed citizen performing citizen arrest. what do you think why 911 dispatcher said "you do not have to do that"? do you realize that legal repercussion is far too great if you're an ARMED private citizen? The difference between police officer and armed private citizen doing a neighborhood watch duty is that in case of mistaken arrest, you will be arrested, charged, and treated like a felon who just robbed a bank with gun.... and police officer doesn't get criminally charged if he made a mistake. That's the difference.
It is rare because most citizens are not stupid enough to do it. To be clear, the ability to sue for wrongful imprisonment hinges on, "authority". And, I might point out, if the law states a private citizen can make an arrest then he/she does, in fact, have the authority. Whether the arrest involved unnecessary force is another matter entirely. If you can come up with some cases, I'd love to read the briefs. The majority of cases are against security guards. IMO(yes you read that right), most private citizen lawsuits are thrown out unless unnecessary force can be proved.
ALL states have Good Samaritan Laws and do you know what is it for? legally protecting you for providing medical aid to injured, not chasing and arresting a person or anything in such kind.
Wrong again, Massachusetts does not have one. And, the wording is up to the state.
and police officer cannot and would not tell a private citizen to do a police job for him. it's a serious and huge liability risk for both police department and citizen.
Really? Please support that with some regulations. The police ask the public for help everyday. And, that does, in fact, put ordinary citizens at risk.
oh boy... you surely got your facts all wrong.
here's a correct fact -
based on what I read - it looks like Zimmerman slipped and hit his head thus accidentally shooting
perhaps you should read the timeline of events before you speak more. you are very confused. -
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/trayvon-martin-case-timeline-of-events/
Jiro, you want to use the news as a source, fine, here is the trascript of 911 calls:
911 calls paint picture of chaos after Florida teen is shot – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
7:16 p.m. ET
Caller: "Yes. And the guy on top had a white t-shirt."
Jiro, I believe that would be Zimmerman.
Officers arrived on the scene at 7:17 p.m. ET, according to a police report.
Officers Timothy Smith and Ricardo Alayo said they noted a black male in a gray hooded sweatshirt lying face-down in the grass, as well as a white male in the area.
"While I was in such close contact with Zimmerman, I could observe that his back appeared to be wet and he was covered in grass, as if he was laying on his back on the ground," Smith wrote in the police report. "Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and the back of the head."
Jiro you note the time here, the whole incident happened from 7:09 to 7:18 about 8 minutes. And, I suppose you think Zimmerman hit himself in the nose with his own gun?
it still doesn't qualify enough for hate crime. again - in order to make it a hate crime, one has to have a racial hostility/animus. Just uttering a racist word in the moment of violence does not meet legal standard of hate crime.
Is racial profiling a hate crime? Please inform the police of this, immediately!
I never said anything about what he said, I only stated that he used race as a factor to single him out.
I wouldn't use "IMO" too much if I don't know enough to make a statement or assumption. IMO is a pure laziness and reckless too. best to speak with facts at hand.
Well, maybe you should because you are certainly making a lot of assumptions. You only quoted ABC news.
Neighborhood Watch - your job is to watch out and call cop, not act like Charles Bronson or cop. This guy wasn't doing a Neighborhood Watch duty... he's a paranoid dumbass who shouldn't be allowed to have a gun to begin with.
Please tell that to the Guardian Angels, you know that vigilante group, I believe you'll have no trouble finding one as you are so close to New York.
