Quote:
Originally Posted by August
Is it really attempted murder with a huge and brightly covered air bag positioned just a few feet right below the pushee?
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Could very well be. At least in Sweden you can be found guilty of murder by three sorts of legal premeditation.
1. Intention to kill the victim.
2. Circumstances show, or you admit, that you have acted to prevent a person from doing something, by lethal means.
3. You can also be found guilty of murder if you act in a way where you don't really care if the other persons lives or dies, as a result of your earlier intentional actions which you couldn't know the outcome of, but at the same time it can be made probable that you would have acted the same way even if you did knew about the deadly outcome. (This is a close call to manslaughter, but by ruling murder the judge shows that you face full responsibility and a higher degree of punishment.)
To me the person pushing the guy of the bridge should clearly be a suspect of attempted murder along one these lines, probably number three. As the guy that was pushed of did survive it won't be murder, obviously, but the case for attempted murder could follow the same sort of reasoning.
The air bag (half inflated) and the height (26', not a few feet) of the drop are circumstances to take into account, but what really counts is the intention of the pusher. His reason stated to the police was that he was fed up with selfish people that doesn't dare to kill themselves but seek attention and also disrupt public life. That could very well be the motive for an attempted murder. From what we know about his motive, he might have tried to push the guy in a way so he would fall 26 feet (7-8 meters) and miss the air bag or hit it before it was fully functional, as he was so upset with this selfish man that he thought himself righteous to cause him harm or even death.
So, in the light of his admittedly brief statement, how is the brightly coloured air bag and the height of 26' (7-8 meters) stopping his motive and actions from fitting well with an attempted murder charge along the lines of 2 or 3? Or even 1?
The thing is, we don't know very much of his intention with the pushing, although we know a bit of his motive, and that combined with his actions certainly makes him a suspect for attempted murder. But only further investigation can show if this is correct, or if he should be charged with something else, as the pushing clearly is legally a crime whether the guy was suicidal or not.
porphy