"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.
"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark!
I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."
--Lewis Carroll:
The Hunting of the Snark
My point being: Although the legislature says it's so, doesn't necessarily make it so (even if they
were to say it thrice). In practice, the dual standard works the opposite of what is stated in the legislative history. Any private citizen who shoots a drunken First Nations woodcarver is not going to get the "
pass" on prosecution by the King County Prosecutor that Birk got, even if the prosecutor can't prove "malice" on the part of the private citizen. So, while the standard may technically be higher for when a LEO may use deadly force, the standard for
prosecuting that LEO for a killing is substantially higher than that for prosecuting a private citizen.