Just submit and comply and behave like a good little WOMAN and everything should be fine.
Yes, because the worst insult you can throw at someone is to call them a female.
And because we know that all women are compliant, sheep-like victims, and are completely unable and unwilling to stand up for themselves.
And because, of course, every thread can be improved with a snide reference to forcible rape, even when it really has nothing whatsoever to do with the original topic. Bonus points if the poster manages say something demeaning about women who get raped, without actually saying anything negative about rapists.
Back on topic: horrible event. Feel sorry for all involved. Plenty of room for outrage here, but I'm not sure the frothing-at-the-mouth responses really help understand what happened or how to prevent it happening again.
Actions have consequences. Always have, always will. Sometimes, the consequences seem a bit out of line with the size of the offense, especially when no harm was ever intended. As an example, I know a teenager who rolled a truck this past summer. No alcohol or drugs involved, nothing at all like that. The physical consequence of his inexperience behind the wheel was that the truck rolled when a tire blew after he took a corner slightly too fast. The financial consequence was the loss of the truck, a huge increase in his insurance costs, and some $30,000 in medical bills for two people who walked out of the hospital the next day with [case 1] no lasting injury whatsoever, and [case 2] a small laceration that required six stitches to close. The legal consequence was that the state was looking at
felony charges against the teenager, but eventually settled on "only" pulling his driver's license (and thus throwing him out of a job) instead. All the above seems a bit out of proportion since the kid never intended any harm -- but nonetheless, harm was done. And even unintentional actions have consequences.
Same here. Cop almost certainly did not intend this outcome, but this outcome is the result of his actions all the same. Following the strict letter of manslaughter law against him might seem harsh, but that's the nature of a law that is (by definition) aimed at "accidental" acts.
A murder charge would not be appropriate here, because it would be difficult or impossible to establish the existence of malice, which is the sine qua non for a murder conviction.
No criminal charge at all? Well, that's the way it's most likely to go -- but manslaughter laws are on the books for a reason.
One of the consequences for an "accidental" shooting should always be a careful and dispassionate attempt to understand what went wrong and how it happened. In this case, there's still so little to go on that it's difficult to post anything useful -- but it might be worthwhile to discuss the costs vs the benefits of carrying a less-lethal weapon (Taser) that so closely resembles a firearm. Humans
do make mistakes, so the question is what can be done next to minimize or eliminate this particular type of mistake.
pax
