News Roundup

Jeff is away from the office today so he entrusted me with the keys to the blog. I briefly considered filling this post with a series of hilarious 6-second Vines of my kids, but ultimately decided to stick with the traditional roundup of the week’s criminal law news. (What’s a Vine? See here. Or just ask the nearest teenager.) Zimmerman trial. You don’t have to read this blog to know that the George Zimmerman trial is winding down. I won’t even include a hyperlink—most any media outlet will do. The big issue yesterday was what lesser charges would be submitted to the jury in addition to the main second-degree murder charge. The judge agreed to instruct on manslaughter but not on “third-degree murder,” a Florida crime defined (roughly) as an unintentional killing during the perpetration of a non-violent felony. Closing arguments are underway. Police officers shooting dogs. A California police officer recently shot a dog that lunged at officers who were arresting its owner. The incident was captured on a widely-circulated (and very graphic) video that caused public outcry—apparently including death threats against the officers involved. A subsequent video, also available online, paints a more complete picture, showing the officers’ defensive posture before shooting the large Rottweiler. The incident prompted this column calling for revisions to state law and police policy to allow officers to use lethal force against companion animals only as a last resort. Situations like this are more common than I realized; the column cites Justice Department data indicating [...]