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Piling on charges over charges for the same deed is something that doesn't happen outside the US, AFAIK. If you kill somebody and steal a car to drive his body

Piling on charges over charges for the same deed is something that doesn't happen outside the US, AFAIK. If you kill somebody and steal a car to drive his body into the desert to bury it, you won't get charged for theft, "Withholding Evidence", "Obstruction Of Justice" and what not, not even for trying to break out of jail later. You will be charged for the murder.

tyingq 8y ago
I think the US does more of it, but it does happen elsewhere. Here's one in Denmark: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/peter-madsen-sentenced-life-murdering-kim-wall-submarine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/peter-madsen-s... Murder, sexual assault, desecrating a corpse. That was a particularly gruesome case though. The US does tend to do a lot of upgrading charges from misdemeanor to felony, or felony b to felony a, etc. Often based on unrelated prior convictions.
sokoloff 8y ago
Why not? You have literally committed those additional crimes, and maybe the state can't get you on the murder, but they can get you on the disposing the body, stealing the car, or whatever else. I don't think it should be the case that if acquitted of the worst of the crimes, you walk on all of them. I do think that the sentencing should default to concurrent for tightly related crimes, of course.
- alistairSH 8y ago
  It’s not just stacking charges, it’s picking worse ones when lesser charges might suffice. A common one in VA... Resisting arrest is a misdemeanor, but if you happen to bump into a polic officer while resisting, it’s a near automatic “assaulting a police officer” felony charge. You don’t have to knowingly/willingly assault them in the laymen’s sense, just bump them in a way that they could be injuries (actual injury not required). That felony has a minimum sentence of six months in jail, up to 5 years.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    That seems like a legislative issue to me. Lobby to change the law to require intent or actual injury to make it felony assault/resisting.

tyingq 8y ago

I think the US does more of it, but it does happen elsewhere. Here's one in Denmark: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/peter-madsen-sentenced-life-murdering-kim-wall-submarine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/peter-madsen-s... Murder, sexual assault, desecrating a corpse. That was a particularly gruesome case though. The US does tend to do a lot of upgrading charges from misdemeanor to felony, or felony b to felony a, etc. Often based on unrelated prior convictions.

sokoloff 8y ago

Why not? You have literally committed those additional crimes, and maybe the state can't get you on the murder, but they can get you on the disposing the body, stealing the car, or whatever else. I don't think it should be the case that if acquitted of the worst of the crimes, you walk on all of them. I do think that the sentencing should default to concurrent for tightly related crimes, of course.

alistairSH 8y ago
It’s not just stacking charges, it’s picking worse ones when lesser charges might suffice. A common one in VA... Resisting arrest is a misdemeanor, but if you happen to bump into a polic officer while resisting, it’s a near automatic “assaulting a police officer” felony charge. You don’t have to knowingly/willingly assault them in the laymen’s sense, just bump them in a way that they could be injuries (actual injury not required). That felony has a minimum sentence of six months in jail, up to 5 years.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  That seems like a legislative issue to me. Lobby to change the law to require intent or actual injury to make it felony assault/resisting.