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  1. dracodomitor

    dracodomitor Member

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    How would the US government handle this guy?

    Discussion in 'Research' started by dracodomitor, Feb 20, 2016.

    So, one of my less-important characters is a product of one of my main character's DNA and this unknown (to me) lady's being mixed together by the bad guys, back in WWI, before they travelled to the future. Yes, it makes little sense to me, as well.

    Anyway, long story short, child of MC, we'll call him, uh, Dude - Dude is now in his thirties and has, up until the current time, since he didn't time-travel, been a slave of the 'bad guys', ie. this radical terrorist group. Well, he meets another MC (there are many of them, yes) and there's this epic-long friendship developing. It's great. Really.

    So, he deflects to the good guys in this really dramatic moment by killing the main terrorist, even though he steadfastly maintained that he was his master. Now Dude is on the good team and there's a big trial to prove that he wasn't in the right state of mind - brainwashing - to be held accountable, blah blah.

    My question is: how would they go from there? Would he be classed as a POW? Would Dude get, like, a commendation for risking his life to save NY, since he's technically a civilian? Can he be classed as all of the above, since he currently does not exist on any government records? I'm honestly not sure how it would work, since I live in the UK and really don't know anyone in the service, nor someone who could tell me how the US would handle such a thing.

    (Also, let's just say for clarity's sake that things are slightly less f**ked up then they are in the current, real, world, okay? That most people in the government wouldn't be cool with sending Dude to meet with a firing squad or off to rot in a hole in the middle of the Amazon.)
     
  2. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Hi, welcome to the forum. :superhello:

    What crimes has Dude already committed? Did he participate in other terrorist activities?

    How did he kill the bad guy? Was it self defense?

    Dude's crimes would be at issue, not just what side he was on. And despite the frequent killing of bad guys in novels and movies, most vigilantism is not legal in the US.

    I'm not sure if you are asking about his citizenship but I'm assuming he's a US citizen.
     
  3. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    If I'm understanding this correctly: Dude was one of the bad guys until he defects in this shining moment by offing another, greater bad guy and wants to join? It was discovered he was brainwashed?

    Well, as Ginger noted, what had he done before his big turn? Is he a US citizen, or not? My guess is that they would likely want to keep him in custody, perhaps subject him to psychological evaluation and therapy/treatment.
     
  4. dracodomitor

    dracodomitor Member

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    GingerCoffee, that's a little complicated...

    The crimes he committed were all when he was a minor, so I've been doing some research into that and I'd figured he'd be considered a child soldier (at the time, obviously), and since article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child does limit the punishment that a child can receive including "Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.", then maybe that would help me out?

    As for the exact nature of his crimes - most of them are assassinations, but I know that, since most of the victims were US citizens, then that would be classed as terrorism, and possibly a hate crime if the prosecutor can stretch it far enough.

    As for his citizenship, then technically, yes, he does have one, though it was acquired through not-so-legal means. It will stand up to scrutiny, though, since the guy who did said acquiring is a tech-guru.

    The problem I'm having with Dude (why did I call him that?) is whether they can even try and have him punished for the actions he committed, since it's been proven that he did so not of his own free will. In this world there are...telepaths of a sort, and they manipulated his mind so he was a blank slate, like a mindless weapon.

    I know that they'll still try to push for punishment, but if he was a minor at the time, and it's proven that he wasn't in the right state of mind, then how can they hope to find him legally responsible?


    Link, the above info still stands, but to be more specific to your question especially - this wasn't a sudden, big change of pace. After being rescued from the 'bad guys', Dude lived with the good guys for a month, and so far I've mapped his slow progress from a psychopathic assassin to this really emotionally/psychologically-damaged guy. The killing of the Big Bad was just a final catalyst, since he spent the entire 80,000 words telling everyone that he would go back to being evil as soon as he could escape, and then surprise, surprise, he saves my MC (his father) in this big, admittedly very cheesy, battle.
     
  5. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    As I understand it he kills the big bad for whatever reason thirty years after WWI which makes the date roughly 1948. Did they have crimes like terrorism and hate crimes back then? And the United Nations didn't exist so their charters don't exist either.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  6. dracodomitor

    dracodomitor Member

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    Crap, I didn't explain this right. This is way further in the future: 2020, roughly. As I said, most of the characters time-travelled, but Dude and my MC have long life-spans, so Dude aged about one year every three. Guess I should've mentioned that.
     
  7. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    This is problematic if you want realism. If not, then you can write the story however you want.

    See Patty Hearst and the Stockholm Syndrome. Hearst's used the brainwashing defense and she lost the case.

    The bottom line, in this country, Dude would go to court and have a trial where a jury might or might not convict him. No group of officials would just decide to not prosecute.

    On the other hand, he could be offered a plea deal or immunity and gotten off in exchange for working with authorities to catch the bad guys.
     
  8. dracodomitor

    dracodomitor Member

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    Hm, whilst I want my story to be realistic, I'm not expecting, nor do I plan for, it to be exactly like real life. I really just needed to get some second opinions on how, generally, the US would proceed with things.

    Thank you guys for your help, and GingerCoffee, your immunity idea was something I'd never thought of, but I'm definitely looking into now as my most plausible option.
     
    GingerCoffee likes this.

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