Question 076: Faked demo - REPLY

It is good to be skeptical; skeptics are seldom fooled. However, sometimes the skepticism leads to vindication of the item in question instead of conviction. When analyzing this video, you should:

• Consider the source. This appears to be a clip from a news service. Although there are exceptions, most reporters verify their information.
• Consider any motivation for faking it. For it to be a fake, someone would have had to go to a lot of trouble for only a few seconds of video.
• Consider what an ordinary person might do under the same circumstances. In court, a jury is not supposed to consider what they might do, or what an expert might do under the same circumstance; they are to consider what an ordinary person might do under the same circumstance.
• Consider that he clip is shown in slow motion. The entire confrontation actually only took a few seconds and the aiming and firing of the weapon only took a split second. Although the law says that a spit second of aiming and firing is all the thought that is required for premeditated murder, it is not enough time for a victim to react, even if he is martial art master. Think about your last sparring match. After the match, you probably thought, “Why did I do that? I should have reacted to that attack differently.” Think about a clash during a match; how much thinking did you do during the clash? You probably did not consciously think during that couple of seconds, and you are a trained fighter who knew what he was getting into and was prepared for it. What can you expect an untrained fighter to do when suddenly thrown into a life or death struggle?