[Pat]

I'm curious on what the legal procedures would be in the situation a picturesque hostage taking, where Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, or whoever, have to kill and break the law in order to save their family. Would there be a trial, or would a higher police authority figure this thing out, and get testimonies, or..something else?

[Goranhammer]

Stop renting "Die Hard". Shit like that doesn't happen in real life.

I would imagine, if there was something like that going on, the "hero" would get away without criminal charges. In a situation like that, it's easy to see who's the aggressor. Self-defense would be an all-encompassing defense that would be about as air-tight as you can get.

[unbalanced zealot]

Or a good old suspended sentence.

ie: I sentence you to 4 years in prison for manslaughter ... suspended.

So if you manslaughter anyone in the next 4 years you'll have to do
your original time, otherwise it's suspended.

What I want to is where was Bruce Willis when 9/11 went down ??

[Pat]

Stop renting "Die Hard". Shit like that doesn't happen in real life.

I could, but then I'd be getting "Die Hard 2".

Self-defense would be an all-encompassing defense that would be about as air-tight as you can get.

That's true, but still, in these movies, they always try to frame the hero too, and since the cops are never investigating this thing beforehand, there'd only be a testimony. The person could appear as being involved.

[norman the carpet]

Most common law jurisdictions (and those influenced by English common law) will have some sort of "necessity" defence. Of course young Bruce wouldn't be able to avail himself of a defence of necessity - he was obviously enjoying it too much