From: Kevin Elliott <k-elliott@wiu.edu>
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 07:43:10 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: RE: IP: Fwd: Evaluation of Vehicle Stopping Prototype ("KillSwitch")
In-Reply-To: <362B8D7F.888@lsil.com>
Message-ID: <v04020a00b251718551b4@[143.43.245.6]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>BTW - Did you see the bullshit that happened up in Vallejo? Cops sent a
>dog into a culvert after a suspect. The suspect shot and killed the dog.
>The police had a full-fledged funeral, casket and all for the fucking
>dog. Flowers all over he place, mourners. Now they're buying goddamned
>kevlar vests for their dogs. Fuckheads. Who's the citizen? The human or
>the dog?

It costs money to train an attack dog- kevlar sounds like a good way to
protect the states investment.

>As for the suspect he's charged with something for killing the dog.

Definitely manslaughter, probably 2nd or even 1st degree murder.  In (I
believe) every state the union the penalty for shooting a police dog is the
same as shooting an on duty police officer.  Police dogs are effectively
classified as deputies.

>Simple destruction of property, which would be a charge befitting the
>act, is probably not enough to avenge beloved Bowser's death. Because
>it's a cop-dog-on-duty the penalty is probably more than restitution and
>some community service. Jail time for defending yourself against an
>attack dog?

I'm not sure the issue is as simple as you paint it.  You say defending
yourself from an attack dog- however attack dog implies your life was in
danger (if it was it would be comfortably within your rights to shoot the
dog as self defense) inherent in it being a police dog is that it is well
trained and won't kill you (this is in general- I don't know the specifics
of the case and so don't have perfect info on what was going on when he
shot the dog).  Their is also the issue of resisting arrest (I don't know
exactly how he got in that culvert, but I suspect he wasn't enjoying the
scenery) and shooting at the police.  We have to consider shooting at the
dog in the same category as shooting at the police for the same reason
shooting at their car would be in the same category as shooting at the
police.  Regardless we know have a total of 3 crimes that seem to me add up
to jail time regardless of whatever he was originally being chased for.
1. Resisting arrest
2. Shooting at the police
3. Killing the dog (whatever crime you want to classify this as)


___________________________________________________________________________
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Tandy, and millions of others, are by far the most popular, with about 70
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do not denote a higher life form." - New York Times

-Kevin "The Cubbie" Elliott <mailto:k-elliott@wiu.edu>