Court Rules It Unconstitutional To Charge Woman Who Dumped Friend's Body In Lake

loganphogan · 2018-10-09T01:26:29+00:00

This has to do with interpretation of the constitution, and as far as i can tell her gender had nothing to do with it

omega552003 · 2018-10-09T02:44:57+00:00

Similar thing happened in Florida. Basically its not illegal to not help, im not sure that if its against the law to move or hide a dead person.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/22/no-charges-year-after-teens-mocked-drowning-man-prosecutors-rule-out-filing-charges/723259002/

hastur77 · 2018-10-10T16:00:43+00:00

Here's the actual case:

https://isc.idaho.gov/opinions/45347.pdf

The statute imposes a duty on persons who find or have custody of a body to promptly notify authorities. It also prescribes the punishment for failure to comply with that duty, including felony punishment for failing to notify with intent to prevent discovery of the manner of death. The question presented on appeal is whether the defendant’s prosecution under this statute would violate her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. We hold that it would based on the unique set of facts of this case and affirm the district court’s decision to dismiss the charge.

The problem with this prosecution rests in the information that Akins was at that time required to report. The parties agree that at a minimum the language of section 19-4301(1) requires reporting of two pieces of information: (1) the existence of a dead body and (2) the location of that body. At all times for which the statute was in effect against Akins, the body was either in the rear cargo area of the SUV she occupied or in Lake Coeur d’Alene. Unlike the fishermen who eventually found the body and notified law enforcement, Akins did not have an ability to report her knowledge as to the existence and location of that body without informing law enforcement that she had carried it across the state line in an SUV she occupied and disposed of it in a lake. To find a threat of self-incrimination, we need to look no further than the fact that Akins would have effectively admitted to her commission of the State’s charge of destroying evidence pursuant to section 18-2603 if she had reported in compliance with section 19-4301A.

No problem with this ruling at all.

Title	Court Rules It Unconstitutional To Charge Woman Who Dumped Friend's Body In Lake
Author	yaiosuyej
Upvotes	146
Comments	11
Date	October 9, 2018 1:13 AM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PussyPass
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PussyPass/comments/9mkrlk/court_rules_it_unconstitutional_to_charge_woman/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PussyPass/court-rules-it-unconstitutional-to-charge-woman.892333 https://theredarchive.com/post/892333

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