What should i do if in a self defence situation i kill the enemy/attacker?

Question

don worry not a killer just curious it always worried ,ee if this happened an i get in trouble should i tell the cops should i wait till im asked

thank you in advance for assistance

Answer 1

I agree with the notion to be truthful to the police... After you discussed what happened with your attorney.

Answer 2

something tells me you should be asking a lawyer this question not the martial arts section on a message board.

I would suggest you also keep a lawyer's card handy incase this does happen.

you should tell the cops you are willing to cooperate and then tell them you are too "shaken up" to give a statement right now but want to cooperate-

ALWAYS have your lawyer there. do not speak without a good criminal attorney- they will try that "what do you need a lawyer for" c**p and you will think you can just explain your way out-

you can't- there is a REASON why the miranda warnings say "anything you say will be used against you" FIRST, when you are taken in for questioning.  

saying "you were defending yourself" is too much- not fleeing the scene and saying you will give a full account with your lawyer present is the ONLY INTELLIGENT THING you could possibly say to a police officer.

say anything else makes you a moron.

EDIT: if you take nothing else away from this question take the following and remember it.

1- if you say you do not want to give a statement right now- they can't force you.  they may question you later still.

2- if you request an attorney THEY MAY AT THAT POINT NEVER QUESTION YOU WITHOUT YOUR ATTORNEY PRESENT.

3- no matter how smart you are- you are scared, good cop-bad cop works because it is a timeless method of interrogation used not only in police interrogations but in interrogations of the enemy during war in some form or another. If it works on an enemy combatant- it will work on you.  the entire process is designed to make you uncomfortable as possible then give you a "support rope". in reality that support rope is doing his/her/its (in the case pauly shore decides to give up a failed acting career and join the force) job to hang you.

Answer 3

whatever happened, i'd own up.

if you accidently killed someone in self-defence, and didn;t tell them, then they'd have grounds to suggest you really meant to kill the person and tried to get away with it.

or you could leave the country and retire on a desert island and be safe there!

Answer 4

Well by law, when using self defense you have to get the opponent to let go of you, or get him down. Once you're free of their grip, you run.. if you keep hitting them once they're down, it's considered assault.

P.s- and if you do kill them.. then you're going to jail for man slaughter, even if it was in self defense.

Answer 5

With all due respect to Jack, you need to leave the answering of questions like this to people that actually have a clue, because your view is definetly the wrong one. You are allowed more then one hit, it all depends on the circumstances. As for lying o the cops, they are experts at detecting when people are lying, which makes you look more guilty, and also sets them against you from the start.

As for the question, slef defense law's vary from state to state, howevera good rule of thumb is that you are only allowed to use the amount of force necessary to resolve the situation, or get away from it. this means if you knock your attacker down and out, and he is no longer a threat, and you keep pounding him, then you are going to be the one charged with assault.

Remember only the amount of force necessary until you are no longer in danger, whether he is incipacitated or you got away. Any more then this and you can go to jail.

Answer 6

Be glad that it was him and not you.

Of course you tell everything to the police in detail.  Call the police.  You are not "turning yourself in," you are reporting a crime, which you resolved.

The worst thing you could do is try to cover it up.  You'd end up looking like a criminal instead of a victim, and you would be found out.

Answer 7

run for your life and don't tell anyone. and snag all his money while your there.

Answer 8

Honestly.. I feel like I lost IQ points reading the first answer..

DO NOT LIE TO THE POLICE. One way or another the truth comes out, that is what forensics, investigations, DNA, and Lie detectors help ensure.

The first thing you should do is immediately call the police, tell them the entire situation, and chances are once they get there and see that the evidence pretty much matches your statement, things will go a lot smoother.

The key thing to remember is the statement "I was in fear for my life" that is important. In order to truly be in a defensable position when dealing with that situation, you need to show that there was a definate threat to your life, and that you reacted in response to this threat for your life.

What others have said about the minimum amount of force necessary is true, while there is certain amounts of leverage in a self defense situation vs. a job in which you have to deal with use of force heirarchies.

It still is important to know that you can't rip a guy apart and beat on him while he is on the ground out of the fight. While laws differ from state to state, it is always safe to assume that you do what you need to do in order to get away. While there may be a lot of details and such, for the most part if a knife weilding attacker comes at you and you kill him, in most cases you are going to be fine.

But like other people have said.. killing someone is not that easy. Aside from someone having a heart attack, or cracking their head open on the pavement, most likely you aren't going to be able to "kill" a would be attacker without crossing the line between self defense and homicide, unless there is some sort of accident.

For example you choke a guy, he has a pre existing brain condition and dies... provided you are able to show that you were indeed defending yourself, from a criminal standpoint, you will most likely be fine.

Keep in mind, you can completely evade all criminal prosecution and still be held liable for someone's death in the civil court.

All that aside, the easy answer is, provided you were in fear for your life, calling the police is the first step, the next step would be remaining immobile as possible and letting the crime scene be preserved, because if you are in the right, most likely that will be easy to tell. Be 100 percent honest, don't fabricate anything. If you were overwhelmed with adrenaline and can't remember some small detail, don't try to wing it, just say you don't remember...

All in all, Police aren't out to string anyone up for defending themselves, and one less violent criminal off the streets helps their cause. If you are doing the right thing you have nothing to hide, and as long as you go off that premise you will be fine.

Luckily the chances of you having a true life or death scenario are slim to none, and the chances of you killing someone in said scenario are even slimmer.

Answer 9

Well, if you actually kill the guy, call the police pronto, and dont leave the scene (look around, see if there are any witnesses, get their names and numbers). When the cops show up, tell them what happened, and they will still probably take you downtown, even if there were witnesses to help you out. After this, they will ask you again to recount what happened, they will probably call the witnesses, and see if the stories match up, and then they will probably hook you up to a lie detector machine.  It is a very complex procedure

Answer 10

well it depends on what they did to prompt you to kill them.

definately tell the police, firstly tel them the situation you were in and explain why you had to go to this extremity.

Answer 11

Tell the police. Wait at the scene, and call if you have a phone and are able to. If it's self defense then you should be able to articulate the situation, they will be able to figure out if deadly force was necessary by the weaponry, and bystanders if there are any.

Answer 12

Hi there

Every situation is different and the outcome will depend on many things. My advice would be to get some life experience do some training and speak to people in person who are in the know. Your views at the moment suggest that you will end up in court or possibly in a morgue.

Self defence is a term that really doesn't make much sense or do it justice. Self awareness is far more important than combat techniques. If you can read the signs well before the event you don't need to get involved. The truth is in the real world there's no second chance, no rolling around on the ground trying to force on triangular chokes. You're dealing with the unknown, weapons, strange individuals who's motives you don't know. Learn awareness first before anything else. Never resort to force unless its the last resort. Just because you think you can doesn't mean you should! There's no ego when it comes to self defence and having one will most certainly get you killed!

In most country's reasonable force is often termed like for like but not always. Common sense prevails!

Seek some instruction and get some life skills.

Best wishes

idai

Answer 13

Never lie to the police but never elaborate keep it to a basic explanation.Any in depth or extra info they want tell them you will answer thru a lawyer.More than one guy has talked himself into a jail term by giving to much info.The basic facts of what happened should be enough.

And in any case the bracelets will go on and you will be taken into custody .For how long is up to you there will be a coroners inquest at which you may be required to give evidence in which case you will definitely require legal advice.

Even a fish wouldn't get in trouble if he kept his mouth shut.

Answer 14

Unless you execute a deadly technique, which few arts teach, or the guy has a heart attack then you probably won't kill him. Humans are pretty tough. If you knock him out, don't keep beating him. If for some reason he falls down and isn't responding call 911. Tell them he attacked you and you were defending yourself when he just fell down and wasn't responsive. The only time you can legally kill someone is if you are in fear for your, or someone else's, life. But unless you know martial arts that kill people; Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu (Ninjutsu), Hapkido, or Kuntaw then you probably won't kill them.

Answer 15

believe me when i tell you, because i speak from experience...ignore than dumb f*cker who told you to lie to the cops. ...it will get you in more trouble in the end. lying to the police is called "obstruction of justice" and they can arrest you just for that. or as an additional charge.

i think it's harder to kill someone than most martial artists are willing to admit. back in the 50's and 60's the "martial arts" were so "secret" and "deadly" that everyone assumed that to be hit with one of those "secret" and "deadly" techniques meant instant death. ...so much for assuming...full contact matches came to town and someone got whacked and the strike just bounced off.  look at some of the beatings thai fighters or mma fighters take.

i've personally seen a 9 year old girl take a line hard drive baseball to the throat...she cried for a few minutes and was ok after that.

i've talked to some U.S. soldiers overseas who've told me it isnt like the movies...after you shoot someone, even multiple times...they dont just die.

there is a level of force ladder you can use...basically you could say the punishment must fit the crime. you cant tear off someone's arm for calling you an *sshole. at the same time, you cant expect to talk your way out of a knife attack.

the definition of self defense is ..defending yourself against a perceived attack. not an actual attack. if you honestly believe that someone wants to attack you...you do not have to wait for him to hit you first. you however must stop once the immediate danger has passed.

if some one tries to stab you, and you step aside and grab the arm and elbow him in the face for example...he still has the knife....so you can follow up with maybe a wrist lock or something...but once he drops the knife..the immediate threat is gone and you must stop. if you honestly think he may attack you again, and have good reason to think that...then you can continue.

personally i dont much care about the law in such instances...its you or him. just dont let it go too far....you dont have to smash someones face in and turn it to a bloody pulp to defend yourself successfully. ...you have to match the level of force you use...to the level of threat you perceive. ..in the example above..if at any point after you disarm him..he gives up..."legally" you have to stop...otherwise ...you are now the attacker rather than the defender.

generally speaking though, i want his *ss on the ground unable to fight me anymore..while i walk away (taking his knife with me so he doesnt pick it back up and try again)

and remember, this is self defense. ...you do not have to(and are encouraged not to)  stand there and fight with him. you do not have to attain "victory" over him...put him on his butt...and get the h**l out of the area.

there is no shame in running if it will save your life.

Answer 16

Self Defense?

Well, by 'law' [i hate the law]

but by law, in a situation of self defense, you're allowed one hit.

One single hit unless you're in risk of your life, in which you're allowed to use any form of action required to keep you alive and safe.

I'd say in a common form of self defense, having that one good hit. Punch them right in the throat.

It's one hit. It's legal. and the person won't be getting up for some time so if you're in fear of your life then you may as well use that moment to get away. =)

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ah, and i believe i misread the question.

But if you accidentally killed someone in a self defensive situation.. then you should report it to the police immediately.

See.. although cops and the law are stupid and have NO right in controlling what happens with someones life or what they do with it..

they still have this stupid hard core power over the world and if say you were to accidentally kill someone, it would only make it look as though you did it on purpose if you were to wait.

Best thing to do is lie in all situations.

Cops act as though they know the truth.. cops seem as though they're the protectors.

LIE to cops.

LIEEEE.

cops are all dirty when they wear a badge.. and the only thing they work for is putting people away and giving tickets.

They don't know you.. so what are they not going to handcuff you for if you killed someone accidentally or not.

Report it, make a grand excuse unless the excuse is not so bad and yes.

Hope that helps.

Answer 17

As a Martial Artist the preservation of life is a paramount concern. We train hard to be the one in control of a situation. Of course you can never predict the actual outcome of a confrontation and the protection of your own life and the lives of the Innocent and or your loved ones come first.

NEVER LIE to the authorities.  Everything you say to the authorities is evidence. Don't need to talk to much let the facts speak for themselves. You will be agitated and maybe confused yourself so keep it simple and leave the details for you and your lawyer. You be the one to call the authorities (911) here in the USA.  You be the one to administer first aid if possible.  You will need legal council. Do not brag to  anyone how you took this person down. You don't need to advertise how the incident went down in detail to the police. Suffice to say that you were attacked and you responded to try to defend yourself. I assume you did use minimal force to defend yourself so it is better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6. In any physical confrontation th possibility of a bad outcome is possible. Physical confrontations should be only a last resort.

Answer 18

ROTFL .......  

911 operator: "This is ********* what's the problem sir?"

Thehadd: "Uh....uh....I think I just killed a guy."

911 operator: "What makes you think that sir?"

Thehadd:  "Because this guy on yahoo answers told me how to .... so I uh did what the guy said to do and this dude's dead over here I''m pretty sure."

911 operator: "Ok sir stay on the phone with me until the police arrive.....ok?"

Thehadd: "Yes ma'am no problem.....All I did was hip toss the guy with the Brabo choke."

911 operator: "Did you say brabo choke sir?"

Thehadd: "Yes I did ma'am."

911 operator:  "Is that some kind of military hand 2 hand combat choke or something?"

Thehadd: "I don'y really know ma'am .... it was something described to me by some guy on yahoo answers."

911 operator: "So you learned how to do this choke over the internet?"

The hadd: "Yes ma'am I did and I'm sorry I even tried it now."  [caller crying]