08-03-2014, 12:49 PM
Sorry, Oink. I accept your criticism. I agree that we do not know the admissible facts of the case or the evidence that will be submitted to the jury and that they are the final arbiter.
As to the point about his being a Federal officer, I still think it is irrelevant to his actions, although obviously a point that the defense will want to make in order to put Deedy in the best possible light. He cleans up very well. I remember working on a case where a young man was accused of killing his girlfriend who wanted to leave him by fashioning a noose out of a coat hanger. He was trying hard to be a police officer but thankfully the psych profile filtered him out. He showed up in court wearing a baby blue sweater and talking sweetly and softly when he did talk. You absolutely would have no idea that he was a murderer. They often don't look the part.
Anyway, I can't imagine a scenario in which an officer on State Department security detail is privileged to arrest, detain, or use deadly force against a citizen of the State of Hawaii unless he is acting within the scope of his duties as an officer of the State Department (that is, protecting an employee or officer of the State Department). he may be able to arrest for a Federal crime committed in his presence. I doubt he has any privilege pertaining to his employment other than the right to carry a concealed weapon, which is why he has not been charged with that.
The prosecution may not wish to request a manslaughter instruction. The defense will surely want one. Manslaughter gives the jury an "out" that is short of murder. I have not seen any further reference to the judge including an instruction on assault. She was smacked by the Hawaii Supreme Court for failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of manslaughter. As so often happens, she overcompensated by suggesting she might include an instruction on assault, which is very clearly not a lesser included offense of murder. It might, for example, be a lesser included offense of mayhem or some other offense involving the infliction of great bodily injury short of death. It is not a lesser included offense of murder, meaning that the jury could not decide to convict Deedy of an "assault" if they were of the opinion that his actions did not arise to the killing of a person with malice aforethought.
In any case, as you point out, this is a job for the jury. Let's see what they say.
As to the point about his being a Federal officer, I still think it is irrelevant to his actions, although obviously a point that the defense will want to make in order to put Deedy in the best possible light. He cleans up very well. I remember working on a case where a young man was accused of killing his girlfriend who wanted to leave him by fashioning a noose out of a coat hanger. He was trying hard to be a police officer but thankfully the psych profile filtered him out. He showed up in court wearing a baby blue sweater and talking sweetly and softly when he did talk. You absolutely would have no idea that he was a murderer. They often don't look the part.
Anyway, I can't imagine a scenario in which an officer on State Department security detail is privileged to arrest, detain, or use deadly force against a citizen of the State of Hawaii unless he is acting within the scope of his duties as an officer of the State Department (that is, protecting an employee or officer of the State Department). he may be able to arrest for a Federal crime committed in his presence. I doubt he has any privilege pertaining to his employment other than the right to carry a concealed weapon, which is why he has not been charged with that.
The prosecution may not wish to request a manslaughter instruction. The defense will surely want one. Manslaughter gives the jury an "out" that is short of murder. I have not seen any further reference to the judge including an instruction on assault. She was smacked by the Hawaii Supreme Court for failing to instruct on the lesser included offense of manslaughter. As so often happens, she overcompensated by suggesting she might include an instruction on assault, which is very clearly not a lesser included offense of murder. It might, for example, be a lesser included offense of mayhem or some other offense involving the infliction of great bodily injury short of death. It is not a lesser included offense of murder, meaning that the jury could not decide to convict Deedy of an "assault" if they were of the opinion that his actions did not arise to the killing of a person with malice aforethought.
In any case, as you point out, this is a job for the jury. Let's see what they say.