The Idaho "Death Zone", where one can't be tried for any crime

[SteveRogers]

You're welcome to go see if this would work.


Big Hint-it won't!


Federal prosecutors can chose which court to prosecute you in, it doesn't have to be in yours or where the crime took place.  This is just like one of those dumb laws list...."it's illegal to put diapers on your camel in Phoenix on Sundays before dawn".  Technically it might be true, but in reality it's not true at all.

That's not really true. As already pointed out, the 6th Amendment requires prosecution in "the district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law." Under current law, that means the federal district lines are controlling. Additionally, under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure:

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So no, a federal prosecutor cannot choose to prosecute you in just any old district they choose. Now, depending on the crime there may potentially be multiple districts to choose from. Maybe you killed a guy in the District of Wyoming, but you probably conspired to kill him in the District of Idaho. 

I'd never heard of this "Death Zone" before, but from what I know of criminal procedure, it does sound like an actual real problem. 

[SteveRogers]

Oh yeah, another great "discovery"

Remember those fools claiming you can do everything while on international waters?

I too have a hard time believing that you'd literally be able to get away with murder in this "death zone," and yet I haven't actually seen anyone state what the workaround would be.

[SteveRogers]

The most likely one would be charging the killer with conspiracy to murder in a different district.

If they didn't involve a second person, there's no conspiracy in play.

This ^^^.

Plus IIRC a federal conspiracy charge in most cases only carries a maximum penalty of 5 years. Pretty light for, you know, murder.