Would you rat out a friend who killed a bad guy?

[Janx]

Another TV plot vs. real people question

Your some kind of investigative reporter. Your friend is a VIP. His son killed the guy who raped his daughter and lied about it.

Would you dig deeper into this?

Would you go public with the info, thus causing problems for your friend's high profile career?

The TV show makes this to be a big problem. But in real life, on finding the facts and knowing the circumstances, I would drop it.

It just seems like a violation of the bro code. Real friends help you hide bodies. And since it was a crime against a crook, its like a victimless crime.

 

[Relique du Madde]

There is no bro-code and their are no victimless crimes. You murder a rapist out of rage you still are guilty of murder. If your vip friend kills someone and you help bury the body then you better hope he doesn't pin the murder on you when interrogated.

Also, as a matter of journalistic integrity I would set the story aside, give an anonymous tip to the police, and let someone else do the reporting to avoid their being a conflict of interest which may affect my career (especially if it was discovered that he tried to involve me in the crime by asking me to dispose of the body).

 

[Kzach]

Would really depend on how much my friend is paying me to keep my mouth shut.

 

[RainOfSteel]

Friend and bro-code are not legal concepts.

Aiding and abetting and accomplice after the fact are.

If you have solid information about a murder and do not reveal it, and it is discovered later, you can be arrested and prosecuted (depending on how much they have against you), and found guilty.

 

[Aeolius]

I'd keep quiet about it, but then again I do not consider murderers, rapists, and thieves to be human beings.

If someone broke into my house I'd shoot them and bury them in the backyard. I would not involve the authorities. And I would sleep just fine at night.

 

[Zaukrie]

Wow, people would really hide a crime and killer? Wow.

 

[Janx]

There is no bro-code and their are no victimless crimes. You murder a rapist out of rage you still are guilty of murder. If your vip friend kills someone and you help bury the body then you better hope he doesn't pin the murder on you when interrogated.

Also, as a matter of journalistic integrity I would set the story aside, give an anonymous tip to the police, and let someone else do the reporting to avoid their being a conflict of interest which may affect my career (especially if it was discovered that he tried to involve me in the crime by asking me to dispose of the body).

I see a 50-50 split thus far. Sort of a LG vs. CG mentality actually.

As clarification (having seen more of the show). the VIP did not kill anybody. 7 years ago, his daughter was raped, and his son killed the rapist. the VIP did not know his son did this. It's not clear WHY the reporter friend would now investigate the incident, let alone dig into it.

Now I get why a reporter would dig in. It's a juicy scandal and a murder all in one.

But the premise that it's a family friend who did the digging and is about to go public seemed dodgy. To me the clinching factor is, son killed guy who raped his sister. In texas, that would have been legal if it happened on the spot.

The moment I had a hint of thats what might have happened, I would have dropped it, because the Truth did not need to be known. The bad guy paid the price for his crime and no good will come of revealing it now.

RM's idea for the journalist to hand off the case is probably a good alternative for the journalist who just can't leave stones unturned.

I can only surmise from the show, that maybe the journalist thought they'd be helping, by being the first to get the truth (and they did confront the VIP with it). It did not seem to be a Truth or Favors bargaining scene, just a "i'm publishing this tomorrow" kind of thing.

And apparently there is indeed a Bro Code. I would asssume it ammounts to a modern code of conduct. I'm too lazy to see if it covers helping to hide bodies.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

1) If I knew someone killed someone, I would most likely make a call.

2) if I knew the person killed was scum (like a rapist) that would make me less likyl to make the call...I would not impead an incetigation, but I would not help start one.

3) If I knew a friend killed someone I did not know or have an attachment to it would make that call less likely.

so If someone I knew killed scum and I knew odds of me calling the police are very low.
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I did not see the show, but if the reporter is the main character with alot of journlistic integraty I can see it being a hard call.

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[Fast Learner]

Friend and bro-code are not legal concepts.

Aiding and abetting and accomplice after the fact are.

If you have solid information about a murder and do not reveal it, and it is discovered later, you can be arrested and prosecuted (depending on how much they have against you), and found guilty.

All true. Legality, however, doesn't automatically equal morality. That you might get in trouble, even dire trouble, doesn't mean it's automatically the wrong thing to do.

Not taking sides on whether hiding the murder is "good" or "bad", just noting that the legality of a thing shouldn't determine the morality of a thing (c.f. all immoral laws throughout history, e.g. slavery), and that situational morality is valid even in court.

 

[Umbran]

I'd keep quiet about it, but then again I do not consider murderers, rapists, and thieves to be human beings.

Muderers and rapists I wouldn't argue with (not that I fully agree, but I won't argue) But thieves? Setting aside physical threats, I mean?

Cue Javert and Valjean:

Javert: You are a theif!

Valjean: I stole a loaf of bread!

Javert: You robbed a house!

Valjean: I broke a windowpane. My sister's child was close to death! We were starving...

Javert: You will starve again, unless you learn the meaning of the Law.

Valjean: I know the meaning of those 19 years, a slave of the law....

Punishments fit the crime? Loss of humanity fits thievery? Ouch!