Self defense laws in Ohio- what to remember

These are Ohio self defense laws, so if you are looking for other states consult an attorney or the internet, then double check your facts. 


So, your detective, victim, or even murderer is going to claim self defense in Ohio. Here's what you need to know about Ohio legal self defense. In general, it's easier to give your character a lawyer, and even then you still have to know the laws. Always get a lawyer, in real life.

In public places

The thing to remember is that if you are in public places you have a duty to retreat, which means it is only legal if you couldn't retreat/avoid the danger and you believed fully that you were in danger  (whether you actually were or not). If you believed you would be bodily harmed and couldn't escape, you have a right to self defense. That said, a jury still has to believe you. You are supposed to find a peace officer, if you can retreat. Also, if you caused the fight to begin with, you have no legal right to self defense. 

In you (or your family's) home or car

There is something called the Castle Doctrine in Ohio. An intruder comes in and threatens you or your family and you have every right to shoot them in self defense. No duty to retreat exist in these places. There are loopholes that make this doctrine null, however. Also, if you are trespassing and commit a self defense you are illegally acting.

a. You invited the person you shot in, or a fellow resident did

b. they are a postal worker and have temporary right to be there

c. they are only peering in

d. they are leaving your home

e. they are a fellow resident of the home

There are several situations that would cause problems for a character in the way of legal self defense. You can create so many legal problems for your characters just by using the list of ways Castle Doctrine doesn't cover someone. For example, you invite your date in, they attack, you kill them in defense of your body, and you can't legally claim self defense. That's just one example.

Have fun putting your characters in bad legal situations and giving murderers ways to murder someone! Comment below if  you want to know about something specific. 

Real life american serial killers

Writers and readers are thrilled by serial killers from the past and present. They fill fiction novels in the mystery and suspense genre and readers eat it up with a spoon. I'm going to provide you examples of real crimes you may or may not have heard of, as well as give you the basics on serial killers.

Serial killers are defined as committing a series of murders, sometimes with no apparent motive, in a pattern or specific way. They are often made famous (or rather infamous) in the process because the press and general population become alarmed and focus on them. They appear on the news when news of a serial killer is leaked out or is released to the press by law enforcement. It would be great if serial killers were all fictional and created only on pages of thrillers, but that isn't true.

We all know about Jack the Ripper, H. H. Holmes, Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and the Zodiak Killer, but there are current day killers you may not know about. Some of them aren't caught.

2011 - New York State

Police found around 10 bodies while investigating the murder of Shannan Gilbert, most of them sex workers who had advertised on craigslist. Some of the body parts found in the graves were linked to an unsolved case from 1996. While there are some leads, they haven't found the killer.

North Texas Hospital 2000-2001

Vickie Jackson, currently serving a life sentence, may have killed 10 people in North Texas Hospital.

She was a nurse at North Texas Hospital and used a drug, used to paralyze ability to breathe, to kill elderly patients in the hospital. She pleaded no contest, but never admitted her guilt.

Plainfield Ghoul - 1954-1984

Ed Gein became fascinated by death, dismemberment, sexual fantasies, and cannibalism after his parents died in the 1940s. His farm in Plainfield became a house of horrors. By 1954, he went from messing with graveyard corpses to killing older women. 15 women died at his hands. He was put in the state hospital for life and died of cancer in 1984. 

The Dating Game killer - 1968

Rodney Alcala was a contestant on the dating game. Fortunately, his date had the good sense to not show up for the date. He killed an 8 year old, raped and strangled, in 1968. He killed four more women after that. Based on photos received from Alcala, it is believed he killed more women. He got the death sentence after conviction of one murder. 

Check my facts, blog readers, and if you are interested in any other cases, comment. I looked for less known cases. In review, women, children, and sex workers were and are major targets of serial killers. People on the social fringes are easier to target. You will also notice that few women have been known to be serial killers. If you are writing a serial killer in your novel, these are social patterns you may want to follow or break. Your call, fellow writers. 

My sources: 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/american-psychos-10-modern-serial-killers-youve-never-heard-of-102597/

https://www.thoughtco.com/famous-murder-cases-4140296

Gun laws for Ohio- what to remember when writing concealed and open carry

Gun laws are different for every state. I am only talking about Ohio in this post, but it's easy to find the open carry and concealed carry laws online. Keep that in mind, writers. Your character may be breaking the law if you don't know these laws. Heck, you may break the law if you don't know your gun laws.

Open Carry Laws

             

              Open carry is a new law that some law enforcement aren't familiar with, thus your character that open carries may be approached by law enforcement and jumpy people alike. The best option for a reaction, in the situation of a law officer approaching, is to be calm, keep your hands away from your weapon, and comply. In the words of an FBI agent I once met, you can fight for your rights in court later. Also, you may want to get a lawyer if your approaching officer is one who doesn't understand the open carry law and you get arrested. Open carry is generally not suggested because it is so new of a law and is still being figured out.
             The situation for your characters may vary from a well-read officer who just nods to your character and watches, to a "green" officer  (a rookie, I mean) who's nervous and arrests you for not having a license. Keep your setting in mind when you write scenes involving open carry, especially local law enforcement habits and experience. An experienced officer may be less jumpy than a rookie who just got a badge, but it depends on your characters and their personality. Your open-carrying character may get themselves killed by being upset loudly and resisting arrest. Again, depends on the character design.

Concealed Carry Laws

             Concealed carry means it is concealed on your person or in your vehicle. Open carry doesn't apply to a gun in a vehicle. In general, watch signs on restaurants and know where you can legally carry. Someone can still ask your characters who carry to leave a restaurant, and legally they have to leave. Also, you can't legally drink and carry a gun, at least not in modern times. We aren't the old west anymore, so don't try it. However, you can get your character arrested for doing this if you want to.

          In Ohio, you have to be 21 to get a license. You also have to have 8 hours of firearm training and no trouble with the law. Rule of thumb, if your character is a criminal with a record, they can't be licensed without a separate "clean" identity. In other words, unless they lied they won't get licensed for a concealed carry, and even if they lied they may be busted by a background check. You can't be convicted of anything or have a license from another state suspended to get an Ohio license. Another thing to remember about an Ohio license is that the license is accepted in 22 other states under reciprocity agreements. Your license takes 45 days to process and it comes from your county sheriff.

Where you can and can't carry

          There are places you can't carry guns, even with a license. Rule of thumb, if you are in a building with law enforcement and courthouses you can't carry, as well as schools, mental health institutions, secure airport areas, and universities. Colleges make their own decisions on this, but I would say they still would make you leave it in your car. In your car, your gun is legal. Most colleges are probably not into students carrying, especially with school shootings that have happened on public campuses. 

         Where can your character legally carry? State parks, state forests, rest areas, non-secure airport areas, in your car, in certain daycare centers (unless a sign is up), private aircrafts, and anywhere else not listed. Double check my facts on this, just to be sure. If I'm wrong about anything, comment. I want to know if I'm wrong, for the sake of my writing. 

Now you know

         

                  Now that you know what's legal, go get your characters arrested or go get your characters licensed and legal. That's your call, fellow writers. You can even get them killed for resisting arrest. Did I get anything wrong? Comment. I want to hear from you; what do you want researched? What are you writing about? Comment below and let me know!

    

        

writing introverts and extroverts and why it matters

Characters, like people, have personality types, thus they must be introverts, extroverts, or ambiverts (meaning can be both at different comfort levels). As writers, we have to know what our characters are to make them realistic, and doing so can make a more dynamic social scene in your writing.

For example, having an extrovert (Person A) and an introvert (Person B) clash due to Person A having a need to fill the comfortable silence Person B enjoys will create a conflict that can drive conversation and character development. Conflict furthers your story and, in this scene, can spur colorful words from Person B, while Person A may not understand why the other character is so irritated. This is why introverted or extroverted matters; we interact based on being an introvert or extrovert all the time. It influences us far more than we think because it influences where we get our energy from and what exhausts us.

Since I've now said the words introvert and extrovert without definition way too many times, let's go into what these words actually mean for your characters.

Introverted people, in the general sense, pull from long term memory when speaking and already have stimulated minds (so, they are comfortable in their inner worlds). They are mistaken for being "shy" and don't always fit in with the rest of society, mostly because our society is built for extroverts. They speak less in public and more one-on-one or in small groups. Extroverted-introverts do exist and may appear to be extroverts, but all introverts need quiet alone time to recharge. Often, introverts communicate better in writing than they do verbally.

Extroverted people, generally, pull from short term memory and are stimulated more by people around them than their mind (or inner world, rather). They fit in better and come across as more leadership material. They are often popular and extremely social. They can come up with a verbal response quicker than most introverts. They may have trouble writing and be better at verbal expression, in some cases. They can greet strangers at a loud cocktail party and be entirely in their element, while silence can make them uncomfortable.

Introversion and extroversion are a spectrum, so keep in mind your characters can have aspects of both. There is also an introverted-extrovert (extrovert that can be mistaken for an introvert).

Creating characters, conversation, and interactions in the story may depend on where they are on the spectrum. For example, an introvert on the extreme end will be irritated and go slightly insane when they are given no alone time, thus can be testy and curt to other characters. This will influence the moods of their friends and set off cause-and-effect dominoes if they are also harshly sarcastic and cold to people around them. A middle-of-the-spectrum introvert may be able to handle more social time than the previous introvert I described. They may get slightly cranky, but won't be so bad. An extrovert on the extreme end will have no issues with having no alone time, but may have plenty of issues being alone.

There are boatloads of research on this topic, and I could go even deeper, but this post can only be so long and I can write more blogs on different aspects of this at another time. As usual, if you want to hear about anything specific (guns, personality types, body types.....etc) comment below.

Hope you had a good Easter! He is risen!

Surveillance and tailing techniques

Tailing and surveillance are essential to private investigators. Your fictional private investigator will need to know how to do this well, or if you want them to fail, what not to do.

Tailing, to be clear, is following someone in a car or on foot. Surveillance is watching someone from a distance. You'll have to know the difference for this to make sense.

First, let's start with the pre-surveillance work. It only takes one stroll through the internet channels, public records, and social media to find one's habits and usual places to visit. There are whole websites dedicated to helping people do this. One hour or less and someone can know you hang out at the public library every Friday and you went to a Nancy Drew Convention in New Orleans last year (just a fictional example, but you get the idea). It's not that hard to do this. If you check your friends' Facebook events and pictures, you already have a lot of information. Your fictional PI, if they are on the level, should double-check information, but you can make a fool of your PI by having them jump to conclusions. Your call, fellow writers.

Also, pre-surveillance involves asking clients hard questions, basically everything they know about this person. If they can provide a picture, even better! Your PI may have to push a little and may offend their own client. That would make rather interesting dialogue, in my opinion, but, again, this is your call, writers. If you want a PI to fail, you may consider having a lying client or not having your PI ask enough questions.

Now we have surveillance work. I will be brief on this. Here is a list of things that should be done and a list of things that shouldn't be done:

Do!

-take solid notes with the time written on them
-note people interacting with target
-pay attention to everything
-if in group surveillance, some way to contact or signal team members
-two ways to take notes, one electronic and another paper/pencil
-be prepared to spend the day in your car (bring food/water/something to use for a make-shift bathroom)
-be patient and well rested
- park discreetly
-show up early
-have a dull looking car with tinted windows and dress to blend in
-public property is your friend
-make use of your car mirror

Don't!

-order takeout
-take a book and be distracted by your phone
-smoke with a window down
-drive around in an obvious car
-stick out like a sore thumb
-take sloppy notes
-nod off
-lose the target
-get found out by your target/arrested by police for stalking
-go on private property
-forget the basic needs and go the restroom in a restaurant nearby
-try anything you see in the noir movies

When it comes to tailing, a lot of the above still applies, but there are added dos and don'ts.

Do!

-keep two car distances
-blend in with your car
-drive safe and know your terrain/roads ahead of time
-take note of vehicle details
-stay out of rearview mirrors
-if on a subway in a city, have tickets ahead of time

Don't!

-be right behind them in an obvious car in obvious clothes
-get in a car accident
-find yourself waiting for a subway ticket while the target disappears
-get seen in a rearview mirror
-drive like a maniac
-lose your target
-get found by your target
-harm your target, others, or yourself in any way

Writers, I hope this helps and let me know if you have any interests you want me to research and blog about!

Sources:

https://privateinvestigatoredu.org/private-investigations-process/

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-use-the-internet-to-investigate-your-next-date-5845900

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-follow-someone-like-a-pi-without-getting-caught-1454091062

https://thoughtcatalog.com/adrian-lamo/2015/08/this-is-how-you-can-tail-someone-like-a-professional/

Private investigators - fact vs fiction

Private investigators are shown in films and (some) novels as shady people who solve crimes for the rich, and in some cases, get personally invested in the cases themselves. The reality is slightly less glamorous because PIs have to follow the law just like the rest of us. Most of the time, they are not loner detectives doing things by themselves and are part of a larger organization, like Pinkerton Detectives were. For the benefit of all those writers trying to write authentic private detectives, here are some basics on PIs, the real ones.

To be a private investigator legally, you have to have a license and renew it every year. To get that license, you have to know the state requirements. For Ohio, you need a good reputation, 4,000 hours of investigative experience, and education. You can't just stumble into this career path. There is a test to pass. Every state is different, so check your facts. Keep this in mind when your PI comes to life on the pages of your novel. They worked hard to get where they are.

One thing all PIs do is surveillance, but only on public property. Private property is trespassing and can land you in jail. That is one thing your fictional PI must know because if he/she doesn't, he/she can lose that license they worked for quicker than you can say 'you're fired'. Surveillance done wrong can also be seen as stalking in the eyes of the law, so it has to be done discreetly and correctly, or they can land in jail and - you guessed it - lose that license. A good investigator does pre-surveillance, that is finding out anything they can about habits and addresses, most of the time via the internet, where people post publicly and give away lots of information without thinking about it.

When doing surveillance, remember that a clear picture is good evidence, but a recording without consent (consult the laws according to your state on this) is not admissible evidence in court. When your fictional PI is staking out with a video camera, keep this in mind. It's also good to know that the same goes for hacking, GPS tracking, and wiretapping. No consent means no legal evidence. Fact check with local laws before you take my word for it, though. Different states have different laws.

What is accurate is that the rich do hire PIs and these PIs do end up in jail on occasion (when police see their surveillance-equipped cars). They are paid per day (like the movies tell you) plus expenses. They do see if someone's spouse is cheating. Lawyers do hire PIs, and because of this the PI can get more information (records financial and medical). This much of what the media tells you is true, but double check everything else you see in those noir black-and-white movies.

Happy writing and let me know if you want to hear about a specific topic!

Writing assassins - the basics

As a writer who writes assassin characters, I have done research on the subject. It is scary how many people actually know how to find an assassin in several different countries (and I'm not even touching the dark web for my research!).

First of all, let's discuss what a hitman/hitwoman is in comparison to an assassin.
Hitmen/hitwomen is a subclass of the term assassin and kill for cartels, mafia, or just kill random people off the street (because of patterns of living and various other reason, random people are not hard to kill). An assassin kills for a living, to put it simply.

In my research, I've also found that there are professional and amateur. The difference is training. For example, an ex-military special agent may have far more skill than a teen runaway trying to get some cash. Amateur also tends to get caught far more easily, and professionals tend to be older, while an amateur is more likely younger (not always the case). Keep this in mind when you write your character's kills and results of that situation.

For all those writers who are writing assassins, it is good to know that there are both freelance and those connected to mafia/cartels/crime families. I, personally have written a female freelance assassin in one of my work-in-progress stories. You can also easily connect your killer-for-hire to a crime family or a gang.

And now we come to the subject of the female assassins. Women have been spies for years and through many wars, because no one suspects there is a knife in a baby stroller, poison in a bottle of whiskey, or a message hidden in a skirt (look up civil war dresses- it's fascinating!). Men in many societies didn't frisk women coming into military camps, making it almost too easy to get in and deliver a message, or even kill a high ranking official. Female killers seduced and outsmarted to get into favorable places and access high officials, and since society saw them as nurturing mothers and harmless women, they often had the element of surprise and the added bonus that a man was killed by a woman, which would cause other men to possibly look down on the victim.

 One thing to note is women's status. Writing women killers may mean that your killer gets away with their crime, or a harsher sentence when and if they are caught (like an insane asylum) if your setting is a time when women were seen as lesser and thrown into an asylum for reading novels and being different. It depends highly on your time period, so check your facts on how women were treated if you write a female assassin or hitwoman, especially if she gets caught and killed.

I hope you mystery readers/writers enjoyed this basic writers' guide to writing assassins. There's always more information to be found, more details on how men and women kill and such, so let me know if anyone wants to know more.


This information was provided by these sources: https://www.quora.com/Do-assassins-hitmen-exist-today

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/seducation-stabbing-guns-hidden-pushchairs-secret-world-female/