The line between criminal and defensible acts can be blurry. For instance, if the homeowner in the burglary scenario had shot the intruder 10 times rather than just once, the reaction would be considered excessive. If the burglar had been turning to walk out the door when he was shot, that too would be cause for further investigation. In situations like these, criminal justice professionals play key roles in determining criminality, gathering evidence, and addressing the defense.

For this Discussion, you use an example case to explore those criminal justice roles related to defensible actions and probable cause.

To prepare:

• In this Discussion, your Instructor may post a contemporary news story or other current example about a crime that has occurred, or you may find of your own story.
• In the story, identify the action that may or may not be defensible.
• Use information from the story to respond to the prompt.

Post a response to the following based on information in the story:

• How do you determine whether actions are considered criminal when defensible?
• If there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, what is the obligation (duty) of the police?
• Who decides if the defense presented is usable—the police, the prosecutor, or the judge?
• Support your responses with information from the story and evidence from the Learning Resources.