The police do not write the laws and in most cases they have limited discretion in how to treat suspects of serious crimes, particularly homicides. So if you shoot someone, even if it’s justifiable, and especially if the person you shot died, you’re probably going to get cuffed-and-stuffed and taken to the jail for questioning, just because whenever there’s a homicide, police like to make sure none of the principals go missing before they’ve managed to separate the pepper from the fly specks.
So even though you might not at that moment be arrested, you still can be taken downtown and detained until someone above the paygrade of the responding officers takes responsibility for cutting you loose. Which is why everyone who keeps a firearm for home or self-defense needs to take two precautions.
#1, Contact your local jail and ask about bail procedures. Some jurisdictions do not allow professional bail-bondsmen. If that’s your case you’d definitely want to know beforehand so you can have a plan for how to get bailed. Some jails keep a copy of the local property tax records so they know how much any real estate you might own is worth. And if its value is more than your bail, they will accept a lien on your property as bail.
If you have to pay a professional bondsman to bail you out, he will charge a fee — usually 10% of the full amount — to bail you. So if your bail is $10,000, he will charge you $1000 and in exchange he makes a guarantee to the jail to pay the full $10,000 if you fail to make your court date. If you make your court date he keeps the the $10,000 he put as risk AND the $1000 you paid him. Paying a bondsman is unavoidably expensive, but making property bail is free, provided you don’t skip. But a lot of property owners still hire a bondsman because they don’t know about property bail, and the jailers aren’t likely to warn you in advance.
So there’s a lot of ins and outs, just make sure you know what to expect if you get charged, and what you’re going to have to do to get released on bail, and have a plan in place for getting out.
#2, Have an agreement with an attorney to represent you in such a situation, keep his 24-hour phone number in your wallet, and DO NOT talk to police without legal representation present.
Once you’ve been cuffed and stuffed your long-term liberty is at stake, so don’t count on the Good Ol’ Boy network to save your bacon. Weigh every word you utter as if that is the word that will make the difference between whether or not you have a date with Ol’ Sparky, because it very well could be.
You won’t get taken downtown if you request medical assistance. That will give you time to call an attorney. Just do what I did in a previous post. Articulate, set the narrative, request medical assistance and STFU.