MaggieD
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2010
- Messages
- 43,244
- Reaction score
- 44,664
- Location
- Chicago Area
- Gender
- Female
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.
These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?
We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
It is not the victim, but the state, that presses charges. A wife is not compelled to testify against her husband. It is indeed odd that we charge folks for ambulance servces and then compel the ER to treat them for free.
ambulance companies are private companies....they are a business, not a government mandated service.
they still suffer from the same problems of non-payment as hospitals do, though
meh, that's not a very good solution
in all the states I have lived in, the State will press charges even if the victim does not.
the victim might not want to press charges because of the relationship to the perpetrator.. in many cases, the victim doesn't want the aggressor to be punished as harshly as the state will inevitably do, they just want the immediate help to end whatever conflict they are having right then.
I think it's bad policy to criminalize not pressing charges.. you'll be effectively victimizing the victim.
my brother in law didn't press charges on me when I beat his ass ( he couldn't he was unconscious for 13 days).. the state did... my brother in law is more pissed that i got punished than he is about getting his ass beat.
there's very odd and complex dynamics at work here..and i would have hated to see him convicted of a crime after getting his ass beat like that.
Not all ambulance services are private and not all ER services are public. Try again.
I don't know anything about your situation but just based on what you've posted here, I think it shows why it's a good thing that the state makes the call and not the victim. That does not sound like something you should have walked on. No offense.
no offense taken...I didn't mind getting collared, I did wrong and had to pay my price.
I could have taken it to trial... or made a plea deal for a lesser charge.. but I plead guilty and took responsibility
( i did, however, take on future successful proceedings to right some wrongs that the penalties held)
Nevada state law, as written, is exceptionally bad ( overly broad)... but it was ,and is, the law.
if it were to happen today to me, I'd take it to trial and appeal up the chain in order to narrow the law a bit.. but I was a broke then, I didn't have the resources to fight a badly written law.
:lol:Yeah, I hate those badly written laws that level penalties for beating someone into a coma. :mrgreen:
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.
These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?
We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
Every state is different. When I became a street cop in CA if the victim didn't press charges there was nothing we could do, but the law changed in my first year. The change
enabled LE to arrest a suspect if we merely saw evidence of an "impact" on the victim physically - done. We didn't need a victims statement at all, just a black eye, bruise
or something illustrating a fight occured.
:lol:
the problem with the law was.. I would qualify for a domestic violence charge for beating up nearly anyone in the state of Nevada.. it was broadly written.
they did take out part of the broad law ( the part of about commercial relationships).. so that's a good thing... but it still includes any person you are related to by marriage... meaning.. if you beat up the 2nd cousin to the 3rd cousin of your spouses 3rd cousin twice removed, you are getting prosecuted for domestic violence instead of assault
there's no limit to how far "related by marriage" goes in the statute.
I beat up my brother in law who didn't live with us and whom i had no real relationship with.. he came to the house to high on meth to confront me about telling my wife she should tell his wife to dump his worthless junkie ass.. and nearly got killed for it ( he died twice, but was resuscitated).. he's now in prison, again, for cooking and selling meth...we won't be seeing him again, he'll die in prison.
silly neo-nazi junkies.. they ain't too smart..
That's true in many states these days. However, you cannot force the victim to testify for your side or keep them from testifying for the defense.
Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.
These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?
We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
Actually yes you can compel testimony. It's called a "subpoena". Realistically though, those types of witnesses are not exactly helpful to the state's case.
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.
These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?
Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.
We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.
I don't disagree with that. There should be something for people who habitually do this. I just think that fines will have the reverse of what's intended.Y'know, I understand all the arguments like that and, in fact, I was going so say something along those lines but frankly Maggie has a good point. Ok, maybe the first couple times you don't get fined but if you habitually call the police and use their time that could be spent elsewhere and fail to follow through maybe there should be some way to legally discourage that.
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.
These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?
We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
On more than one occasion, I have been physically attacked by a wife while trying to arrest her husband after she called 911 to report he was beating the **** out of her. One crazy bitch even tried to stab me. If you don't want the cops to show up and arrest your spouse...don't ****ing call 911 and tell them he/she is beating your ass.
To build on what radcen said, the sorts of cases where someone would call for help and then change their tune often involve a lot of psychological issues.
Actually yes you can compel testimony. It's called a "subpoena". Realistically though, those types of witnesses are not exactly helpful to the state's case.
You can force them to show up. You cannot compel them to say what you want them to say. In which case it's probably better just to leave them alone rather than have them torpedo your case.
Theoretically they can be compelled to testify truthfully under the threat of purjury. Often the complainant is the state's case.
Theoretically they can be compelled to testify truthfully under the threat of purjury. Often the complainant is the state's case.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?