[ALUmnus]

Heard about this on the radio this morning. It was over on SJ's side of town. Great community over there, everyone stood around to watch the guy get killed. That may sound harsh, but come on, nobody could help the guy?

http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0708/539744.html

They stood and watched as one man killed another. Witnesses say at least 30 people decided to do nothing about it. We're told an entire neighborhood, even children witnessed the fatal stabbing. Now, many are wondering why those witnesses didn't protect the victim.

[SuperJon]

That's the opposite end of Campbell from me.

[4everfsu]

Darn no firearm within reach for the 30 people. I wonder if they could be charged with not going to someone's aid, like a Good Samaritian law or something.

[mrmacphisto]

Tragic story, but I found it funny that the headline was "Dozens Watch Stabbing Death" and there's a graphic to the right that says, "Click Here To Watch."

[Sly Fox]

How the wife hasn't faced charges of some kind is beyond me. I'm sure a grand jury will bill here at some point.

Under these circumstances, it would be tough to enforce the Good Samaritan laws with the wife making the threats.

[matshark]

i'm personally going to keep my mouth shut and not say anything about worthless trash of society that do nothing to help the economy, neighborhods, town, friends/family and certainly not to prevent or stop crimes. further, im also not going to advocate the israeli solution where bulldozers are lined up and the entire street is then cleared of houses, etc... so that something useful can be built on the spot.

let me guess, all those people sat around and wondered where the cops were, in between uttering epithets at them when they showed up.

[4everfsu]

Sly, good point. I didn't think of that before but the wife could be charged as accomplice to murder, I would think.

[Cider Jim]

We really do need officer Medic to chime in on this thread.

[Iwasneverhere]

Darn no firearm within reach for the 30 people. I wonder if they could be charged with not going to someone's aid, like a Good Samaritian law or something.

Sadly i don't think they can.

Under the common law, Good Samaritan laws provide a defence against torts over the activity of attempted rescue. Such laws do not constitute a duty to rescue, such as exists in some civil law countries, and in the common law under certain circumstances. However, the duty to rescue where it exists may itself imply a shield from liability; for example, under the German law of "Unterlassene Hilfeleistung" (neglect of duty to provide assistance), a citizen is obliged to provide first aid when necessary and is immune from prosecution if assistance given in good faith turns out to be harmful.

So in a nutshell here in the states its ok to sit on your hands and i think this mostly applies to first aid stuff. I remember when i took a first aid class, we had to learn about these laws. The only time you can be held liable for not helping someone is if you begin treatment or "aid" and then stop for no reason or you are not certified to do so. But i would bet that out of those 30 people at least 5 of them were trained in first aid. Even still you don't have to be trained to stop a stabbing and dial 911. Its Pathetic what this world is coming to.

[PAmedic]

^^^ pretty much dead on.

though VA law may differ a bit from PA- you have no obligation to act up here, either.

and actually, believe it or not there is NO legal liability up here if the POLICE aren't able to keep you from being killed, either.

basically, the law says its YOUR obligation to keep your butt out of the wringer- we come in to clean up the mess.

now, MORAL obligation- thats another matter altogether.