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Something occurred to me about Amy Cooper that I thought I should bring up, especially to @MuellerSheWrote, @openargs, and @LegalEagleDJ . This woman made a false call to the police and undoubtedly knew that if they showed he could easily be killed. It Is Known™.
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I checked the New York statutes on murder and I felt this might warrant some discussion. I don& #39;t think it would ever come to pass for multiple reasons, but here goes (with appropriate statutes or parts thereof quoted). New York defines homicide as follows:
PEN § 125.00 Homicide Defined
Homicide means conduct which causes the death of a person or an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than twenty-four weeks under circumstances constituting murder, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second
Homicide means conduct which causes the death of a person or an unborn child with which a female has been pregnant for more than twenty-four weeks under circumstances constituting murder, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second
degree, criminally negligent homicide, abortion in the first degree or self-abortion in the first degree.
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PEN § 125.15 Manslaughter in the second degree
A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when:
1. He recklessly causes the death of another person; or
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PEN § 125.15 Manslaughter in the second degree
A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when:
1. He recklessly causes the death of another person; or
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PEN § 125.25 Murder in the second degree
A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when:
[…]
2. Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby
PEN § 125.25 Murder in the second degree
A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when:
[…]
2. Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby
causes the death of another person; or
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Now, we& #39;ve got homicide defined as well as 2nd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter. The latter follows the "depraved heart" theory of murder, where you act so recklessly that you don& #39;t care if someone else dies.
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Now, we& #39;ve got homicide defined as well as 2nd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter. The latter follows the "depraved heart" theory of murder, where you act so recklessly that you don& #39;t care if someone else dies.
Here, Cooper called the police with the threat— now culturally understood implicitly— that they& #39;d kill him. Had the police showed up and killed the man, I think her conduct would arguably have satisfied at least Man 2, having caused the death indirectly.
I think you could even make a case for Murder 2 if you could show her indifference was "depraved." Now, one thing I don& #39;t recall from Criminal Law is whether you can have attempted murder under a depraved heart theory.
As to why I don& #39;t think a prosecution for any of this would happen? First, it would force us— especially NYC— to confront some very uncomfortable facts, particularly the NYPD is commonly regarded as racist enough that they can be used as a weapon against black people.
Second, the theory would be fairly strained, given that she wouldn& #39;t be killing him directly but gambling on someone else doing it for her, which would really be stretch for the "causes" elements. Still, it would be interesting to see a DA try at least Man 2.
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