Excellent point, Mystech
I just ... I didn't know you could do that. I could swear that this falls into the domain of Things You're Not Supposed to Do according to the Constitution.
Which, incidentally, is what kills me about the news. Apparently, I'm one of the few people in the world who thinks that you can't charge someone twice for the same crime in this country or else why isn't there a "background" story link on Why can you charge someone twice for a single death?
Don't get me wrong; just like we throw gun-posession charges onto accused murderers just in case, I'm sure there are other aspects of this fire that can be charged against someone. It hadn't occurred to me that, since you can't try someone twice for the same crime, you can get around that by charging someone twice for the same crime and trying each charge once.
I mean, that seems almost a Bushism. If Rhode Island can do this, maybe Bush ought to think about trying terror suspects in Rhode Island.
And since prosecutors want to split hairs this badly, perhaps when the videotapes are shown in court, the defense will be able to argue that yes, the fire might be something people can blame on these defendants, but look at the patrons trampling each other and pushing each other aside. If any of the people pushed aside or knocked down by others died in the fire, it will be harder to convict the defendants, especially when seeking to be so exacting as to charge someone twice with one act.
