Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Getting Off-Track


Getting Off-Track
by Rob Cottignies

Like many of you, I recently found myself wondering, ‘How would I be charged in various scenarios which involve me tying a guy to railroad tracks?’ Armed with a curious mind and limited legal knowledge, let’s explore…

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks and a train killed him, how would I be charged?

I think, quite simply, you would be charged with first-degree murder. You would've had to plan the time and location of the scenario.

But the train killed the guy. I wasn’t even there when it happened.

Though an excellent point, I don't think this would be a valid argument. As long as you knew the tracks were currently in use, you would have left the guy to be killed.

What if I didn't know the tracks were currently in use?

Unless the tracks were rusted and overgrown with plant life, it would’ve been reasonable to assume they were currently in use. I mean, they're railroad tracks. It's not like you tied the guy to a tree in the middle of a forest and he was killed by a train.

What if I tied a guy to a tree in the middle of a forest and he got killed by a train?

I think you would receive a lesser charge and the worst train conductor in the world would have to answer many questions.

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks then a passerby rescued him, how would I be charged?

My guess is attempted murder.

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks then a passerby tried to rescue him but couldn’t before the train came and killed them both, how would I be charged?

Let’s say murder and endangerment or something like that. The Good Samaritan Act protects citizens from charges if they reasonably try to help someone in peril but injure them further in doing so. It does not, however, protect people from being hit by trains.

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks then a passerby saw the guy but did not attempt a rescue and the train killed him, would the passerby be charged?

Sure! There is an interesting thing called ‘Duty To Rescue’ which urges but doesn’t require citizens to help somebody in peril if it doesn't put the citizen at risk, but not in all situations. For the law to be enforced, there would have to be a relationship between the people.

What if there was a relationship between the guy I tied to railroad tracks and the passerby?

The passerby would have to attempt a rescue of the guy, as long as it didn’t put the citizen at risk.

What if an illegal immigrant rescued the guy on the tracks?

His heroics would probably be a positive factor in his deportation hearing.

What if the illegal immigrant was wanted for tying someone else to railroad tracks?

What does that have to do with this? Regardless, he’d be a hero to one family but a villain to another.

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks then a passerby rescued him but the guy was a maniac who killed the passerby, would I be charged in that murder?

Wow, great question. While you wouldn't escape the attempted murder situation, I think you would not be charged with the passerby's murder. However, there is a paradox- If you didn't tie the maniac to railroad tracks in the first place, he wouldn't have killed the passerby. And you would’ve had no idea how the guy would react after being rescued.

What if I knew the guy was a maniac before I tied him to railroad tracks?

Still, you wouldn't know what the guy would do. This would just be an unfortunate 'Wrong place, wrong time' scenario for the passerby and the maniac would be rightfully charged with murder of some degree.

What if being tied to railroad tracks directly caused the guy to become a maniac and kill the passerby?

Maybe he would be charged with manslaughter. I think you would still not be charged though. Your previous action would’ve resulted in the guy becoming a homicidal maniac, but how would you have known the passerby would be there?

What if I knew the passerby would be there? What if his name was Jeff and he used to beat me up at school and I knew when he crossed the railroad tracks every day?

That's clever planning.

If I tied a guy to railroad tracks then a passerby rescued him but the guy is a real maniac who immediately ran to town and killed ten people, would the passerby be charged with murder?

Probably not. How would the passerby know the guy is a real maniac?

What if the passerby did know the guy was a real maniac? Like, the guy was a serial killer. He got the charges on him thrown out even though he admitted he killed a bunch of people and would love to get at some more. The guy killed my sister so I wanted revenge. I couldn't bring myself to commit murder so I tied this guy to railroad tracks and left him there for a train to do it for me. The case was highly publicized so it's very unlikely the passerby wouldn't recognize the serial killer. If he didn't rescue the guy, he would have broken the law which was possibly made up earlier. If he did rescue the guy, it would have been reasonable for the passerby to assume the guy would kill more people. What was Jeff supposed to do!?!?

Find a different way to walk home.