MSU College of Law News

Mystery writer spins tale with prof's findings
May 4, 2007
The Detroit News
By Neal Rubin

You need not commit the perfect crime to get away with murder, as long as you pick the perfect place.

Please do not consider that to be consumer information. As a general policy, The Detroit News does not encourage murder, or even simple assault.

In East Lansing, however, a smart and perhaps alarmingly crafty associate professor found a 50-square-mile loophole in the law that might permit free-and-clear mayhem -- and his discovery has now been immortalized in a novel.

"Free Fire," the latest mystery by C.J. Box about a Wyoming game warden named Joe Pickett, arrives in bookstores Thursday. It's inspired by an article in the Georgetown Law Journal by Brian Kalt of the Michigan State University College of Law.

Dipping as briefly as possible into the legalities of it, the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says defendants are entitled to be tried by a jury from the state and legal district in which the crime occurred.

Heaven knows why Kalt was looking, but he detected an oddity at Yellowstone National Park. The entire 3,472-square-mile park falls into the district of Wyoming, but small chunks of it sit in Idaho and Montana.

"Say that you are in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone," Kalt said, "and you decide to spice up your vacation by going on a crime spree. You make some moonshine, you poach some wildlife, you strangle some people and steal their picnic baskets."

As quickly as possible, the authorities would hustle you to Cheyenne for trial. But wait: The Constitution plainly says that the jury has to be from the state (Idaho) and district (Wyoming) in which the dastardly deeds were done.

That would be Idaho's chunk of Yellowstone, where the population is exactly zero. Since there's no available jury, there can be no trial, which pretty much rules out a conviction.

Kalt concedes that lesser charges might be brought in other states. And if you have evil intentions, you'd best act fast; a Wyoming senator is looking into closing the loophole.

But for now, I'm thinking of Coleman Young's warning in that memorable first inaugural address: "To all those pushers, to all rip-off artists, to all muggers: It's time to leave Detroit; hit Eight Mile Road!"

The part he forgot was, "Then head northwest for 1,550 miles -- and when you get to Old Faithful, turn left."

Reach Neal Rubin at (313) 222-1874 or nrubin@detnews.com.