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Notes -
I have a number of examples of practices, which I've referenced at length, and you've responded by saying things like "I really don't understand what Grosskruetz has to do with anything", or by separating how each and every one fit into some newly constructed category that makes it impossible to compare and contrast.
What I don't have is a deep statistical analysis of every possible homicide in the United States, because it's a ridiculous demand -- much of the data just doesn't exist to start with, especially for non-prosecutions by definition! -- and the overwhelming majority of examples would be in such different classes that it would be meaningless.
You raise some interesting questions about where this would fall on the line between second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter if the available details are true, and if you tried to engage seriously I'm sure you could probably make a more serious argument why the lack of arrest or likely prosecution is reasonable here.
What you've not done is present a meaningful separation from this case and others: we do, in fact, arrest and prosecute cases that would 'just' be accidental killings or 'just' have one set of witnesses claiming one thing and another set claiming the other, with (astonishingly!) no video contradicting either.
No one says you have to do a deep statistical analysis of every possible homicide, but how about something more than n=2? The point is that you are very, very sure that there is something anomalous going on, yet you say you have no data. So perhaps you should be less sure.
Lack of arrest yet. The victim did not die until 1 am, after the suspect presumably had been allowed to go home. So, should the cops have arrested him at the scene? Well, simple battery is a misdemeanor in California (Penal Code sec 243(a)), and a police officer cannot arrest a suspect for a misdemeanor without an arrest warrant unless the offense is committed in the officer's presence (Penal Code sec 836(a)), so an arrest for simple battery would be unlawful. What about battery that results in great bodily injury (Penal Code sec 243(d))? Well, even that is a "wobbler" -- it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Does that permit an arrest without a warrant that did not occur in the officer's presence? Maybe, but what if a court says it doesn't? Then an arrest would be illegal, and any subsequent statement by the suspect would likely be rendered inadmissible. And, here, where we are talking about a suspect who is cooperative, has ties to the area, who is 50 years old, and who presumably has no criminal record -- ie, someone who is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community -- why risk that?
And, speaking of inadmissible statements, once he is arrested, all sorts of legal protections kick in, including his right to an attorney, his statutory speedy trial rights, and a host of others. In contrast, the benefits of arresting him immediately are, what, exactly? He is going to be released the next day on bail if not on his own recognizance.
Finally, now that he has been released, the police cannot arrest him without first getting an arrest warrant. That means assembling evidence, and it means including material exculpatory evidence known to police in the warrant affidavit. All of that takes time.
That's why, as I noted, I see media reports of suspects being released pending investigation happens all the time.
PS: You seem to have inadvertently linked to the same case twice.
Thanks, fixed.
I've got a few others in that FCFromSSC link, and I can do a broader list on both fatal or nearly-fatal incidents from several of my past posts, but the sample size is (thankfully, currently!) small; any N I can list will be a significant portion of all incidents. And people made the opposite insistence on theMotte's reddit during the Rittenhouse era or when more broadly speaking about police violence, where just one unprosecuted case, even if marginal, was unacceptable.
That said:
To be fair, he has been arrested today
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