- cross-posted to:
- AskUSA@discuss.online
- cross-posted to:
- AskUSA@discuss.online
Didn’t exactly learned this “today” but the first time I heard of this, I was kinda surprised at this fact. I thought y’all should know since there is a case in the news that people are calling for Jury Nullification or Pardons. That could get a bit tricky considering this Dual Sovereignty Doctrine.
Pardons require a sympathetic governor, which will never happen.
Jury nullification requires that everyone on the jury votes not-guilty, which is a pretty high bar to hit.
A hung jury, on the other hand, simply requires one or more members of the jury to vote not-guilty. He could still be re-tried, of course, but having just one principled person is a lot easier than having all 12.
This requires the crime to both be federally prohibited and under federal jurisdiction. Stuff like murder doesn’t typically fall under federal jurisdiction unless borders are crossed or federal property is involved or something like that.
I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure his gun was illegal, and he carried it across state lines. Those gun charges are probably prosecutable under federal laws. The murder tho, I’m not really sure.
Generally speaking, homemade guns are legal at the federal level as long as they aren’t otherwise prohibited (eg, full auto) and have enough metal to be picked up on a metal detector.
Feds usually only get involved in murder for things like serial killers or hate crimes.
Crossposted it to !AskUSA@discuss.online