shorter prsion sense if he shows genuine remorse and it was 'accidental'

He basically has two cards to play.

One is the "I thought it was a burglar who was coming to kill me" card, which, if I'm not mistaken, gets him off if he can show a genuine belief that it was an intruder (I believe that in these sorts of cases it's taken as read that intruders are armed and are an immediate threat to life - although firing blindly through a locked door seems to negate that to my mind...).

The other card is "ok, it's a fair cop, but it was a heat of the moment mistake for which I have been punished horribly enough for and I am genuinely very sorry and grieving". Which, whilst probably not a get-out-of-jail-free card, would probabley see him get a shorter sentence if he's found guilty of culpabale homicide (ie manslaughter in our system) rather than pure murder.

Posted By: CWC, Apr 9, 11:39:13