不过呢，我突然想起，十多年前我也读过美国法学院，还差点当了崔律师，于是我查了一下New York Penal Code (纽约州刑法)。我发现manslaughter 的获罪条件是很高的，它要求被告人willfully and recklessly cause death, 这里面有许多明知故犯和极度不小心的成份，一个好律师会充分利用这些element 层层设防来辩护的。既然梁警官的子弹是先击中墙再折射击中格利，这充分显示这里面的accidental (意外成分)，所以即便起诉了他，判他有罪并没那么容易。
说得对。情愿白宫不是解决问题的途径。当然了，舆论制造出来或许有好处。
－－－－Changiskhan 在《时事论坛》的一个跟帖－－－－－
The shooting of Timothy Stansbury occurred in New York City on January 24,
2004. Stansbury was an unarmed 19-year-old New York City man who was shot
and killed by New York Police Department Officer Richard S. Neri Jr. on
January 24, 2004. Officer Neri and a partner were patrolling the rooftop of
a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn at
about 1 a.m. Officer Neri, with his gun drawn, approached a rooftop door to
check the stairway inside. Neri testified to a Brooklyn grand jury that he
fired his standard Glock 19 pistol unintentionally when he was startled as
Stansbury pushed open the rooftop door. Stansbury, a resident of an
adjoining building, died from one shot in the chest. The grand jury found
the shooting to be accidental.[1]
On February 17, 2004 after nearly a month of investigation, the grand jury
declined to indict Officer Neri on charges of criminally negligent homicide
and manslaughter, finding instead the shooting to be accidental. Mayor Mike
Bloomberg who like Kelly had not been overtly supportive of Officer Neri
said: Although the death of Timothy Stansbury was a heartbreaking tragedy, a
grand jury today decided that Officer Neri's actions were not criminal. The
Police Department will conduct a review of the case to determine the
appropriate course of action."[5]
律野仙踪 发表评论于
有一点崔哥分析得不妥。纽约的法律把manslaughter 分成两个级别。一级和二级。“intent” only required in first degree, 所以，second degree manslaughter 不需要证明willful. 只证明consciously disregard, 就可以，这里面的should have known, 即“被告应该想到”，这个标准比较厉害。根据这个情况，梁警官被定为二级的可能性非常大。所以，要救梁警官还是要参考崔哥的这些建议。
