[Flavius Josephus]

Was Burr in legal troouble when Hamilton died?

[Jalapeno]

Burr had to flee NY I think (with good reason). Let me get a history link.

[Jalapeno]

Angry and depressed over his defeat, Burr decided to try and restore his reputation by challenging Hamilton to a duel. Burr may have hoped that Hamilton would apologize, but the communication between the men escalated until a duel was unavoidable. On July 11, 1804, on the dueling grounds at Weehawken, New Jersey, Burr shot Hamilton dead. In New York and New Jersey, Burr was charged with murder. And in much of the Northeast, Hamilton was mourned as a fallen hero. But to many Americans, particularly in the South, Burr was viewed as a man who had rightfully defended his honor.

Although he was a wanted man, Burr nonetheless enjoyed immunity from prosecution in Washington, D.C. There, he presided over the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Burr set a remarkable standard for decorum and fairness during the trial, in which Chase was acquitted. This would not be the last time Burr appeared in a highly publicized federal trial. The next time he would be the defendant in a trial for treason.

source

[linda_22003]

Yes. There were murder indictments handed down in both New York and New Jersey. States were trying very hard to put an end to dueling, which had been legally discouraged but were still part of the "code of honor" at the time. Both indictments were eventually quashed, but Burr fled to the South and lay low for some time, first.