andrew wiggin said:It is the physical evidence of your actions that will determine guilt or innocence.
Hopefully you don't really believe that and are trying to be funny. A jury will determine your guilt or innocence. Eyewitness testimony frequently trumps physical evidence.
https://www.law.umich.edu/clinical/innocenceclinic/Pages/wrongfulconvictions.aspx
Following are common causes¹ of wrongful convictions; these are not the only causes, however:
Eyewitness Misidentification Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide. Research shows that the human mind is not like a tape recorder; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. Instead, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene; it must be preserved carefully and retrieved methodically, or it can be contaminated.
Junk Science Many forensic testing methods have been applied with little or no scientific validation and with inadequate assessments of their significance or reliability. As a result, forensic analysts sometimes testify in cases without a proper scientific basis for their findings. And in some cases, forensic analysts have engaged in misconduct.
False Confessions In many cases, innocent defendants make incriminating statements, deliver outright confessions, or plead guilty. Regardless of the age, capacity, or state of the confessor, what they often have in common is a decision—at some point during the interrogation process—that confessing will be more beneficial to them than continuing to maintain their innocence.
Government Misconduct In some cases, government officials take steps to ensure that a defendant is convicted despite weak evidence or even clear proof of innocence.
Snitches Often, statements from people with incentives to testify—particularly incentives that are not disclosed to the jury—are the central evidence in convicting an innocent person. People have been wrongfully convicted in cases in which snitches are paid to testify or receive favors in return for their testimony.
Bad Lawyering The failure of overworked lawyers to investigate, call witnesses, or prepare for trial has led to the conviction of innocent people.
Various studies estimate that in the United States, between 2.3 and 5% of all prisoners are innocent. One study estimated that up to 10,000 people may be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes each year.
Eyewitness "misidentification" (or flat out lying) is the leading cause of wrongful convictions.
If you don't intend to kill every witness to your self-defense shooting (like the case that Skans cited), then you better expect the survivors to testify how you snuck up and wrongfully executed your "innocent" home invaders after they had already surrendered.
Given all the histrionics over assault weapons, etc, it would be interesting to find out the influence your legally silenced "murder" weapon would have on the jury (the majority of whom will very likely NOT be gun owners).
I can cite you pages of cases where an innocent person was finally set free after an eyewitness changed their testimony, but none where a legal NFA weapon landed a person in jail. Possibly you could be the first!
My personal decision is to leave all the fancy stuff in the safe and not give the opposing side anything that can be easily used against me, but I don't see an NFA weapon as any particular advantage. However, if your decision is that you need one to defend yourself, go for it!
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