Swatting - The Legal Consequences

What Is Swatting?

The act of swatting is the actual intentional prank of getting police and other emergency professionals to a location for the drama of an event. The individual that participates in the prank may not remain on the premises until after the cops and other authorities leave. However, either through tracking or seeing the person pulling the prank law enforcement may discover who started the matter and hold him or her legally responsible for the situation. The direct consequences of enacting a swatting event may depend on the specific incident and if the prank cost time and energy from an actual emergency.

Negative Actions from Swatting

There are some situations where the local law

enforcement will take a prank of swatting farther than the person intended. If he or she contacted the cops in the local area for a practical joke, the police are unaware that this is the case and may attend to the area with guns drawn for what may appear a suspicion situation. The negative actions appear if the cops shoot or harm someone that is innocent at the scene. The death of someone from these events could lead to severe legal issues for all parties involved.

The Legal Consequences

There are some instances where a person wants the drama and humor of what he or she considers a joke or a prank. However, some of these issues become incidents with possible death or life-threatening wounds. The damage caused by the prank caller could end with disaster if the police arrive at the property where the person said he or she was at the time of the event. If the person explained that he or she was holding another hostage or had a gun or other weapon, the local law enforcement may come into the house with guns drawn. If the person answering the door unaware of the issue, he or she may suffer injury by gunshot.

The person pulling the prank could face serious legal consequences that starts with an arrest. In these situations, the person pranking law enforcement may cause the death or injury of another person. This usually leads to charges for the matter. The person may face possible incarceration, fines and additional penalties depending on the judge or jury. The cops may need to coordinate the arrest with another state or they may need help with federal agencies depending on the factors of the case. The issue generally runs through standard procedure that places the person in jail until a criminal trial commences.

Further Complications with Swatting

When a person engages in the illegal act of swatting, he or she may face additional complications when the matter involves multiple states. With multijurisdictional concerns, this could lead to different types of charges or penalties than the person would normally expect when attached to similar problems. Because of the complicated involvement of multijurisdictional issues, the incident that occurred and the added person that caused the event, there are experts that often examine and assess how to proceed through the swatting issue. One legal issue involves murder charges for the death of a person from a prank call.

An expert assessor of the issue may need to explain the connected charges for the third party. While some swatting incidents are state crimes, others involve the federal courts. This could increase charges and possible penalties such as obstruction of justice, conspiracy, interstate communication and other federal crime issues. It often takes an expert to explain the issue in court to the judge or jury, so everyone is aware of how to proceed and why the matter is so serious. With this information, the conviction could involve penalties that hold the person in a federal prison or a state prison depending on the factors of the case.

Legal Support for Swatting Defense

The person involved in a swatting event will need a criminal defense lawyer to defend against the charges if a person dies or another crime occurs when the police do show up at the residence. The prank caller may need to explain intent to avoid the more severe penalties if he or she does face a conviction.
Provided by HG.org

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication at the time it was written. It is not intended to provide legal advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the law may have changed since publication. Readers considering legal action should consult with an experienced lawyer to understand current laws and.how they may affect a case.

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