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ZorbaTHut  1yr ago (text post)   35194 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022

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They do not currently have the names of any suspects or particular statutes in mind that may have been violated but they have started an investigation.

This does not seem like a healthy use of prosecutorial power. This is fully into "I'll find you the crime" territory, if we are opening investigations without even an articulable belief that a specific crime was committed.

I mean, I think they have a belief that a crime was committed, just not an awareness of exactly what statute it violated.

Imagine the police find a dead body. They probably form a belief that a crime has been committed but exactly what statute will be applicable can depend on as-yet-unknown factors (like the perpetrators state of mind). I do not think the police in such a case are "fully into 'I'll find you the crime' territory."

But your example is highly disanalogous: in your example, the police have a probable general type of crime (unlawful killing) but not a suspect, whereas in this case the investigators have a suspect, but not a probable general type of crime.

I mean, I think they have a belief that a crime was committed, just not an awareness of exactly what statute it violated.

I'll just point to the definition of Probable Cause.

Cops are allowed to go on 'fishing expeditions' in the attempt to find evidence of a crime they think happened, but searches, seizures, and arrests require them to actually have reason to believe a specific crime has happened, and usually they have to be able to articulate precisely what information/evidence leads them to believe that.

So fine, if they want to 'investigate' by asking questions and collecting testimony they can try. But making an arrest, conducting a search, and seizing evidence is going to require a bit more than that.

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