Who killed Captain Stacy?

[cyberghostface]

So there was a certain scene in A+X #11 that caught my attention...



Was it really Otto's fault? Let's see.

From Amazing Spider-Man #90...












So basically Spider-Man deliberately causes Dr. Octopus to lose control of his tentacles... the tentacles attack him and knock over debris, killing Captain Stacy... and Otto is the one to blame?

Comments

[icon_uk]

Thanks for the better informed assessment of the legal situation. :)

I don't think the fact that the guy who died was a respected and long serving Police Captain would help anytone in the legal system be inclined towards leniency.

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

Not toward Otto, but anyone in law enforcement would be sympathetic toward the situation Peter was in.

[jkcarrier]

Busiek and Ross' MARVELS covers some of this. All the evidence points to Otto as being solely to blame, and Otto is too proud to admit that Spidey could mess up his tentacles like that, so Spidey is essentially off the hook. He was still "wanted for questioning", though, until he was finally officially cleared a few years later.

[rdfox]

Disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer. Most of my knowledge of criminal law in the State of New York actually comes from watching too many episodes of the various Law and Order shows. However, these are pretty clear-cut cases that fit pretty much perfectly into the categorizations of the law.

As for leniency, what Fredneil said. Once they got the actual facts and evidence sorted out from what Triple J was screaming in the papers, the cops and the DAs would sympathize, and Peter would likely get offered a no-jail-time deal like I suggested. (Even Otto would likely be offered a deal, simply because it would save the people the time and expense of an actual trial. Something like 3/4 of all actual cases never go before the jury for just that reason...)