General Gabby Petito Case

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kneeblock

Drapetomaniac
Apr 18, 2015
12,435
23,026
I used to live in Jackson Hole for almost a year so I can confirm that this is going to be a needle in a haystack if she's there.
 

Splinty

Shake 'em off
Admin
Dec 31, 2014
44,116
91,095
You want to murder someone and get away with it? Take them to the Death Zone in Yellowstone.

If you haven't heard of it, it's one of the greatest legal loopholes ever. I'll try to lay it out in a way that makes sense. :smile:

Basically:

* Yellowstone National Park - in its entirety - falls under the jurisdiction of the District of Wyoming. If you commit a crime in Yellowstone, you'll normally be tried in Cheyenne.

* But the park's boundaries extend (slightly) into Idaho and Montana. The Idaho section is about fifty square miles. That fifty square miles is the Zone of Death.

* The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all national parks, so (apparently) crimes committed in a national park must be prosecuted under federal laws, not state laws.

* The Constitution (which overrides ALL other law or lawmakers, ALWAYS - BeardOfKnowledge @JakePaulsBeard) decrees that juries for federal criminal cases (like murder in a national park) must be made up of citizens from the state and the district where the crime was committed.

* That's impossible in the Zone of Death. Since it's in Idaho and Yellowstone is administered by Wyoming, neither Idaho nor Wyoming has legal standing to host a trial for a crime committed in the Idaho section of Yellowstone.

* Furthermore, the Constitutional requirement for a jury to be comprised of residents who are from both the state and the district that the crime occurred in, runs into a big problem here. According to the US Census, there is nobody living in the Idaho district inside Yellowstone National Park. Can't form a jury if you don't have 12 locals.

* Therefore, a jury cannot be seated for a federal trial for a crime that took place inside the Zone of Death.

* The Constitution mandates the right to a jury trial for any federal charge. If a jury of their peers cannot be assembled, then a defendant cannot be punished. Not even the President can override the Constitution, the only thing that can overrule it is a full-fledged Amendment.



This loophole has been known about for years, but it's never been put to the test with a serious crime. But, it's out there. Do what you will with that knowledge. :smile:

??
Anybody a lawyer and can tell about how change of venue would affect this. Trials are moved all the time. This feels like sovereign citizen armchair lawyering that likely has an easy administrative out.
 
M

member 3289

Guest
Attorneys for the Petito family released a statement saying that Laundrie was not “missing.”

“All of Gabby’s family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing,” the statement from the law office of Richard B. Stafford said.


They ain't wrong.
 

BeardOfKnowledge

The Most Consistent Motherfucker You Know
Jul 22, 2015
60,547
56,268
Anybody a lawyer and can tell about how change of venue would affect this. Trials are moved all the time. This feels like sovereign citizen armchair lawyering that likely has an easy administrative out.
I first heard about it through a law professor that's been trying to get it addressed before someone tries it out.
 

kneeblock

Drapetomaniac
Apr 18, 2015
12,435
23,026
Anybody a lawyer and can tell about how change of venue would affect this. Trials are moved all the time. This feels like sovereign citizen armchair lawyering that likely has an easy administrative out.
Your intuitions are correct. There have been a few articles in the last couple days debunking this. The state can always compel a change of venue, especially in murder cases.

 

BeardOfKnowledge

The Most Consistent Motherfucker You Know
Jul 22, 2015
60,547
56,268
Here's the bio of the guy who's been sounded the alarm about this for like 15 years Splinty @Splinty :

 

BeardOfKnowledge

The Most Consistent Motherfucker You Know
Jul 22, 2015
60,547
56,268
"We think your guilty"

"Prove your innocense!"

So these protestors don't understand how the legal system or spelling work. Nice.
 
M

member 1013

Guest
You want to murder someone and get away with it? Take them to the Death Zone in Yellowstone.

If you haven't heard of it, it's one of the greatest legal loopholes ever. I'll try to lay it out in a way that makes sense. :smile:

Basically:

* Yellowstone National Park - in its entirety - falls under the jurisdiction of the District of Wyoming. If you commit a crime in Yellowstone, you'll normally be tried in Cheyenne.

* But the park's boundaries extend (slightly) into Idaho and Montana. The Idaho section is about fifty square miles. That fifty square miles is the Zone of Death.

* The federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over all national parks, so (apparently) crimes committed in a national park must be prosecuted under federal laws, not state laws.

* The Constitution (which overrides ALL other law or lawmakers, ALWAYS - BeardOfKnowledge @JakePaulsBeard) decrees that juries for federal criminal cases (like murder in a national park) must be made up of citizens from the state and the district where the crime was committed.

* That's impossible in the Zone of Death. Since it's in Idaho and Yellowstone is administered by Wyoming, neither Idaho nor Wyoming has legal standing to host a trial for a crime committed in the Idaho section of Yellowstone.

* Furthermore, the Constitutional requirement for a jury to be comprised of residents who are from both the state and the district that the crime occurred in, runs into a big problem here. According to the US Census, there is nobody living in the Idaho district inside Yellowstone National Park. Can't form a jury if you don't have 12 locals.

* Therefore, a jury cannot be seated for a federal trial for a crime that took place inside the Zone of Death.

* The Constitution mandates the right to a jury trial for any federal charge. If a jury of their peers cannot be assembled, then a defendant cannot be punished. Not even the President can override the Constitution, the only thing that can overrule it is a full-fledged Amendment.



This loophole has been known about for years, but it's never been put to the test with a serious crime. But, it's out there. Do what you will with that knowledge. :smile:

??
It’s called taking the train
 

Rambo John J

Eats things that would make a Billy Goat Puke
First 100
Jan 17, 2015
71,543
71,466
Yes and tore my ACL. Snow beta.
bummer, hope it healed up nicely

Went there a few times in my 20s and it was pretty cool, spent 6 weeks

Thought about moving there a few years back but home prices are insanity
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,704
50,709
I watch the full hour of that video. She’s loaded up on antidepressants amd maybe some other meds. She was acting very strangely, almost like she was drunk or combined those antis with some other drugs

he seemed a little strange at first but settled down and built up a hell of a rapport with that many officers quickly

I remember the one driving him to his hotelwas talking about how “man, if you go that way you’re going to hit a stretch where there’s nothing for a couple hundred miles” which caught my attention but who knows

she has some emotional shit going on but I can’t tell what might have happened as now I have to put work in the rest of the night, tomorrow, the next night to draw a conclusion after understanding everything else before and after to give my take on it.
 

John Lee Pettimore

Further south than you
May 18, 2021
6,302
6,762
Anybody a lawyer and can tell about how change of venue would affect this. Trials are moved all the time. This feels like sovereign citizen armchair lawyering that likely has an easy administrative out.
I view it as an amusing piece of trivia, not as something that is ironclad and completely impervious to any official challenge.

Having said that, it does seem like a difficult legal question. Would be interesting to see the legal shitfight if it was ever put to the test.

??
 

Sex Chicken

Exotic Dancer
Sep 8, 2015
25,819
59,498
Anybody a lawyer and can tell about how change of venue would affect this. Trials are moved all the time. This feels like sovereign citizen armchair lawyering that likely has an easy administrative out.
If a cop isn't wearing his hat, he can't arrest you.
 

kneeblock

Drapetomaniac
Apr 18, 2015
12,435
23,026
How did this not only gain national attention but it's worthy of a media blitz?
I think it's because they were pseudo-successful influencers catching the "van life" trend. There's still a part of me that believes this is all a tiktok challenge and that would objectively be better than a dead girl and a homicidal guy out there.