I’ve worked in the justice system in various roles for 48 years now. Cop, police prosecutor, expert witness for defense/prosecution/plaintiff, instructor in various use of force disciplines, and a couple of years as co-vice chair of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense lawyers. One thing I’ve learned from all those perspectives is that the common advice of “Don’t talk to the police” works better for actual criminals than it does for innocent, law-abiding people who’ve been forced to defend themselves with lethal weapons.
I discussed it recently with the Gun Sports Radio folks in San Diego. If you have about 48 minutes to spare, you might find it of interest:
Maybe you stated it during the talk show, but I have not had a chance yet to listen to the whole thing. Many years ago you posted a 7 point checklist of statements that we should provide to the police after a shooting incident, as well as a suggestion to ‘shut up’. I am thinking that it would be valuable for you to repost the latest version of this list for both us long-time readers as well as for newbie readers. Thanks. Steve.
Five-point checklist. (1) State what the assailant did that required you to use force. (2) Indicate that you will testify against him. (3) Point out evidence. (4) Point out witnesses. (5) At that point explain that you will cooperate fully with the investigation but wish to speak with legal counsel first.
Mas,
I couldn’t get to that website on my old tablet. I’ll try it again when I get to a PC.
Listened to the radio show… as expected, VERY interesting and useful content.
I was very intrigued by your use of the Trayvon Martin incident as a tool to explain how reality can get distorted, and the importance of explaining the basics of how a situation went down, then a few titbits drawn from that trial. I just finished reading the twenty blog posts on Backwoods Home…. I had seen most of it, but yuo brought out some other important and salient facts. I was unable to find EVERYTHING on that situation as it unfolded, though I did save a LOT of concurrent articles.
You well may know this, but I’ve come across some recent developments as Mr. Z has emerged from is long hiatus of being in the public eye and is preparing to take some remedial action to deal with much of the wrong he was done.
The one truly astounding item that has come out is that it seems the “witness”, the female who physically sat in the courtroom during the charade of a trial, is NOT the woman with whom he was actually speaking on the last night he spoke to anyone. Seems SHE had been contacted, and they did not like what she had to say, so they decided not to call her. Then, somewhere along the line, they identified this “other female” who had never met or known the cherubic choir boy, now suitably departed, and filled her wull of their version of the story, which she duly spewed after swearing that she is who she says she is, and that she would speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when the reality is that she so=poke not one word of truth exceping perhaps her name.
If THAT can be proven along with the almost certain associate truth that the lawyers pressing the case KNEW what they were doing, there SHOULD be some “highly respected” liars relocating to some nearby CrowBar Hotel for a rather extrended stay. And perhaps George, the real victim in this whole schemozel, will end up claiming some sort of large settlement for his wrongs suffered. I would lay high stakes at long odds the prosecutor, whose character is rather obvious, was in on that fraud upon the court.
Mas,
Just listened to the podcast. It was fabulous! I think you gave out about $4000 worth of advice there. I had some trouble getting it to play, but I kept at it until I got it to work. I’m glad I persevered. The sound was excellent.
Guys and gals, be sure you listen to that podcast. Excellent advice for today, and even some still relevant historical lessons on self-defense from Doc Holliday, [and George Zimmerman].
Thanks to Al Gore’s Internet, I was able to listen to an amplitude modulation wireless radio station in San Diego, even though I am 3,000 miles away from there. Plus, talk about time travel, the broadcast was done on January 12th, and I listened on February 10th.
Too bad “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply to self-defense (British spelling “defence”) cases.
I was amazed to hear that a sheriff in San Diego county is brave enough to issue CCWs. I was told that Chiefs of Police in my state (NJ) are afraid to break ranks like that because if one CCW holder makes a mistake, the Chief may be held liable. Sad. On the other hand, we do have some counties and townships declaring themselves to be “Second Amendment Sanctuary” areas. So that’s a good trend.
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