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Comment by jononor | Hacker News Reader

A thought experiment: An unknown person calls my house and says that someone is coming over now, and that the person has a gun. I get my own gun, and crouch over my porch railing, ready. A person walks down the street towards my house. Some 20 yards from my porch he reaches towards his pocket. I shoot him dead, thinking he might have a gun. In reality he was gonna check Facebook on his phone, and was in fact not even going to me at all. Would I be put on trial in this case? Or is this obvious self defense? Would the person who made call be put on trial for manslaughter?

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I think the answer to this depends on if you are wearing a badge or not.

You would be charged with manslaughter because this person never displayed any type of threat. The severity of the punishment may be mitigated if you could prove that you got the phone call but you are still responsible for what you do, no matter what anyone tells you.

That's not necessarily the case -- although it's one possibility. You could also be charged with involuntary manslaugher or nothing depending on state and local laws, what the prosecutor believes your state of mind is and, frankly, the whim of the prosecutor and the strength of your defense attorneys. Conversely, you could face a higher charge for exactly the same reasons. There's what should happen -- which will vary according to local law, at least in the US -- and then what will happen, which will vary significantly depending on the DA.

This is not a difficult experiment. If you keep a weapon, you should familiarize yourself with the relevant local laws. RTFM, as they say. If someone makes a threat against you that is not immediate, you should contact the police. Yes, you would be put on trial for deliberately going outside and shooting someone not on your property. Duh.

Yeah I tend to agree with you on this thought experiment, a more appropriate response obviously - but if you take away the faulty variables like that and the call does in fact require you to defend yourself in the manner described, then yes, it it was a hoax then the caller should be responsible (if they figure out who obviously).

If you are white and the victim is black - self-defense.

If you are black and the victim is white - you are going to jail

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