Criminalizing Accidents

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Over the past few years there has been a significant increase in criminalizing accidents and the subsequent jailing of those involved. Three particular areas of focus are automobile accidents, gun accidents and childcare accidents.
Of note is the often inconsistent final disposition of the case based on who was involved and not what occurred.
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A recent example is the jailing for ten years of a hunter who mistakenly shot another hunter, mistaking him for a deer in heavy cover.
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That case stands in stark contrast to an off-duty state trooper who was deer hunting, saw what looked like a deer-flag (tail) and fired his weapon. The tail was on a dog on a leash and not a deer. He didn’t hit the dog; he shot the women walking the dog.
HOWEVER, no charges were filed. The incident was listed as an accident!
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/01/massachusetts-trooper-accidentally-shoots-woman-while-hunting/
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Everyone is subject to involvement in an accident. The targeting of those involved by aggressive law enforcement personnel and the associated district attorneys can result in draconian outcomes considering the lack of Malice aforethought or depraved indifference involved. Apparently disregard for an actions possible bad outcomes or failure to foresee negative outcomes has become the standard for determining who goes to jail in many cases. That applies to driving on ice or snow if a DA decides to make the case that you should have foreseen bad things before starting your trip in bad weather!
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These situations are compounded for the person involved because he/she thinks they are involved in an accident and not a crime! They willing and openly describe to investigators on the scene what they think happened during a time when the investigators claim to be doing accident investigation and not criminal investigation.
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Perhaps people should be reminded that there is no legal requirement to participate in an investigation at an “accident” scene. Name, rank, date of birth and serial number is all the Geneva Convention requires. One usually has 48 hours to submit an incident report after getting professional help in doing so. Police are never interrogated at the scene of a serious incident that they are involved in, why shouldn’t that apply to everyone?
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Or as Ron White so eloquently stated:
I had the right to remain silent; I just didn’t have the ability.
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