Telekinesis and the Law

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2006-10-13 09:13am

I guess this is more of a morality question.

Say, if a person points his fingers at another person he really doesn't like and says "bang, you're dead" and the guy's head exploded - and everyone saw this - would the telekinetic person be sent to jail, charged of murder and stuff? What if a lot of the people he points at end up dying horribly, and people saw this? Last time I checked, telekinesis didn't count as a murder weapon.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2006-10-13 10:02am

Every time this happens black helicopter come by and take the relevant person off to Area 51.

Serious, i don´t think there´s a catalogue which defines things as murder weapon. After all you can just kill somebody with your hands or even your assl.
So i guess that if it was proven that the killer is a psychic and kills somebody he´d be charged.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2006-10-13 10:18am

But would testimony that's practically "he pointed his finger at him, said boom, and the victim's head exploded!" be acceptable?

mr friendly guy · Post by **mr friendly guy** » 2006-10-13 10:19am

Morality wise the telekinetic is guilty. Legal wise, and I am no expert, do you sometimes need to find the "murder weapon" even if it is your hands. Wouldn't this be hard to prove with the telekinetic. I doubt the prosecution would try arguing the killer really has telekinetic ability, they most likely suggest a small bomb and the killer knew of it. Which is impossible to prove since the killer did it telekinetically.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-10-13 10:53am

There is no evidence for telekinesis, so it would be impossible to find evidence that the psychic was indeed responsible for the death. Even if many people saw him point the finger at the victim, this is purely circumstantial evidence, and it'll take a pretty crap defence lawyer to nor tear this case apart.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2006-10-13 11:26am

It stands to reason that any crime which requires a violation of the laws of physics would cause an overhaul of the forensics sciences first. Culpability is with the telekinetic, so the drive would be to find a way of identifying or tracking telekinetic activity.

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2006-10-14 02:40am

'What was the murder weapon?' might not be as important as 'What was the cause of death?'. If a person casts a spell and the target dies of a stroke the next day, there's no case because it can be determined that the stroke was the most likely cause of death (more likely than violating the laws of physics). Because this was done telekinetically, there would be no evidence of a bomb, particle beam burns, projectiles (micrometeorites?) or anything. There is no cause of death.

I guess they would have to assume that the most likely answer is that there was a large source of energy in the victim's head at the time in order to produce an explosion. Since people's heads do not have such a source, it would have to be introduced artificially by someone. The person who said 'I don't like you, bang' is the prime suspect for somehow doing this (well, they've got motive). The most likely answer is that they are guilty.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2006-10-14 10:15am

Frankly, I'd be more likely to believe that the victim had a voice-activated bomb implanted in his head than to resort to explanations such as telekinesis. Either way, the person responsible is obviously guilty in any valid ethics system, but conviction would be nigh impossible without being able to read his mind.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-10-14 10:15am

Wait...did the person in question KNOW that the victim was about to die? Or was it an unintentional effect?

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2006-10-14 11:22am

He knows he has powers. Which makes him guilty ethically. But legally, I'm wondering whether he'd be convicted at all. Is the mere fact that he pointed and said "boom, you're dead" a second before the guy's head exploded grounds enough for a sentence?

Pick · Post by **Pick** » 2006-10-14 11:28am

I would have to agree that this is entirely impossible to prove. Though one person said something relating to the action that followed, I can't imagine how we could currently explain an actual correlation between those two events.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2006-10-14 12:07pm

Damn, I wish I was a telekinetic. Going Columbine...with your MIND!

Majin Gojira · Post by **Majin Gojira** » 2006-10-14 12:23pm

You mean if something like this were to happen?

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2006-10-14 01:48pm

How could they even apprehend a guy like this? I envision a scenario similar to the opening of Elfen Lied.