wasn't enough room. Now after you've killed this 'zombie' you actually find out that they'd really had a freak accident whilst chopping down a tree severing their arm off and were only knocking at your window groaning in PAIN as they had an awful accident! What would you do?? Could you be prosecuted??

Thats an interesting question. You may not get put in jail for it, but if you told them you believed it was a zombie and you where convincing, then they would probably put you in a mental hospital for a good time.

Some people do that after they've been in an accident. Covered in blood and dust, people tend to look like zombies. It's how they look after they've been in an accident. After having experienced a traumatizing experience that involved the loss of a limb and a good deal of blood, they might not be able to mutter anything passed a groan or two. ...you may have killed some poor soul looking for help.

Yes you can. My husband is a Criminal Defense Attorney and he represented just such a case. The man Killed both his parents, gouged their eyes out then hammered them to death, because he believed they were the devil incarnate. He's serving the max sentince in a Mental institution for the criminally insane. Not my husband, his client. ;+

Well, considering that zombies don't exist in reality, what you have described is murder. If you then, upon being arrested for shooting someone in the head, explained to the police that you honestly believed your victim was a zombie and you were merely trying to protect yourself, you would be assessed by a mental health professional. On the grounds that you are deemed insane or had suffered from temporary insanity, you could get the murder charge reduced to manslaughter.

I would make sure you bring your copies of the Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z to court with you. Given the correct jury, they may be enough to prove your case.

yes, because logic dictates that zombies dont exist, and any reasonable person would make that distiction

If you lived here in Texas, you could unload on him/it and not be tried for murder. Assuming he/it tried to enter as they asked for help.

Hmmm... well, I suppose you could plead insanity or that you felt your life was in danger.

Not for murder, because you can't kill what is already dead. YOu can however be prosecuted for mutilation of a body. That is illegal.

In some cases, mistake of fact can operate as a defense to a crime. The vast majority of crimes require some kind of criminal intent (mens rea), with the exception of a few strict liability crimes, such as drunk driving and statutory rape. Sometimes, the only intent required is the intent to do the specific act which causes the proscribed harm, but you don't need to intend to cause the harm itself. These are known as "general intent" crimes. Murder, however, is a "specific intent" crime. In addition to requiring the defendant to act with intent to engage in the act which results in the proscribed harm (the death of another person), the defendant must also act with an additional culpable mental state: intent to kill. For mistake of fact to operate as a defense to a specific intent crime, the defendant has to show (1) he held his mistaken belief honestly, and (2) this belief was reasonable under the circumstances. A court will likely assume that zombies don't exist, just about everybody knows that zombies don't exist, and therefore no reasonable person would honestly believe that they have encountered a zombie. Therefore, you could be found guilty of murder. However, in some jurisdictions, and honest but unreasonable mistake could reduce the charge of murder to voluntary manslaughter. For more information on the distinction between specific and general intent crimes: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/specific-and-general-intent-crimes.html Information on mistake of fact as a defense to crimes: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/mistakes-of-fact-and-law.html