Who would win this case?

ok so say there is a guy who escapes from prison. He goes to a house and threatens a family with a gun to let him stay there so the police wont catch him. The police find out and sew the family for 1 m for keeping a prisoner safe in their house. The family argues that they had no choice. It was this or death. so they go to court. are there any laws in this case? and who would be right?

btw this is for school

Libertarian and proud of it

The fugitive would be guilty in this case. The people had no choice to let him stay. He basically forced them into letting him stay there. The people would not be charged.

xchasesdaddyx

Umm this is a bogus question, because the police cannot sue a civilian family for that. They could ONLY press criminal charges. So, this would NEVER stand up in court.

So, the answer to your question is: The family would win

lane b

the police could not sue the family. they may be able to bring charges for aiding and abetting. i doubt that it would happen because it would be considered a hostage situation.

Lela A

This may be a good report for a criminal justice course for discussion

laughter_every_day

You have confused criminal and civil concepts and no answer is possible. Police agencies do not generally sue people for damages. Instead, police investigate and arrest. A prosecutor then brings criminal charges, not civil. If the jury believed that the familly was acting out of fear of harm, then the jury would find them not guilty. If you are asking whether the jury would believe it, that will turn on all the evidence, not just the claim of the accused.

Scooter

The state would not have a case against the family, due to the fact that they were providing shelter under duress. ie threat of violence.

Louis Bourbon

Your question doesn't make any sense. How could a public agency sue (not "sew") a family? First, the police would have to show legal standing and a basis for which to file a claim. Secondly what damages did the police incur as a result of the family's actions?

Now, if you really meant to infer that the police would file criminal charges for harboring an escaped prisoner, then that makes more sense. The family should be cleared of all charges because they were coerced by threat of violence to hide the prisoner. A crime requires the convergence of the criminal act itself and criminal intent. In this case, the family had no specific intent to harbor the escaped prisoner, but were coerced into doing so.

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