Do you have to rescue someone in danger?

It is a harrowing video to watch: a man, crying out for help as he struggles to swim in the middle of a Florida pond.

Off camera, the voices of five teens, mocking him.

“They drowning, what the heck,” one laughs.

“Ain’t nobody fixing to help you,” another is heard to say.

And, after his head disappeared under the water for the final time: “Oh, he just died.”

Crime?

The body of Jamel Dunn - a 32-year-old disabled father-of-two - was found in the water three days later, on 12 July.

Up until that point, no one knew where he had gone. No one had called 911 to report a man in trouble. No one even knew anyone had witnessed the drowning until the video emerged on social media, and Dunn’s family members saw it.

Its contents have shocked the community in the city of Cocoa, on Florida’s east coast. But the teens, aged between 14 and 16, will face no charges, prosecutors have said: there is nothing on the statute books which deal with an incident like this, they say.

The vast majority of states in America do not put a “duty to rescue” on their citizens, but 10 do.

But even these do not cover all instances. Florida is one of the few states to have such a law, but it only covers reporting a sexual battery if witnessed or suspected, according to The Volokh Conspiracy, a blog written mainly by law professors.

In fact, only a few countries in the world have a law which means people have to help or risk prison time, including Germany, where four people are currently being prosecuted for “unterlassene Hilfeleistung” (failure to provide assistance).

According to local reports in Germany, last October an 82-year-old man collapsed in a bank in Essen, but was then ignored by other customers, ranging in age from 39 to 62, for the next 20 minutes.

A fifth customer eventually called an ambulance, but it was too late, and the man died a few days later in hospital.

Paparazzi

Perhaps the most high-profile instance of a law like this involved the death of Princess Diana.

Seven photographers were accused of failing to render assistance by French investigators following the 1997 Paris crash which killed the princess, her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul.

The men had taken photographs rather than helping the dying occupants of the car, it was alleged.

But after two years of investigation, all charges were dropped against them.

Fear

But why would you have such rules?

Sometimes, however, people are more worried about being landed with a bill - or getting into legal trouble.

But many social media users understood the decision, according to the New York Times.

“If I helped her to get up and sent her to the hospital, doctors would ask you to pay the medical bill,” one wrote. “Her relatives would come and beat you up indiscriminately.”

Protection

The teenagers in the Florida case, however, would not have ended up in trouble. Every state in the US has a “good Samaritan law”, which largely protects those who try to help in an emergency situation from being sued.

But whether or not this factored into their thinking is unknown. The teens were heard to mention alligators - but that would not have prevented them calling 911.

As for the moral argument, Yvonne Martinez, the Cocoa Police Department spokeswoman, told Florida Today at least one of the boys did not seem worried by the implications of what they had done.

“There was no remorse, only a smirk,” she said.

生词记录

harrowing 折磨人的，令人肠断的，使人十分难过的，恐怖的

mock 嘲笑；假的，假装的

drown 淹死，溺死

prosecutor 公诉人，检察官；原告律师，控方律师

statute book 法典，法令全书

battery 电池；殴打，暴力行为

conspiracy 合谋，阴谋，密谋策划

collapse 崩溃，垮掉，失败；倒下，昏倒

paparazzi 狗仔队

profile 简介；关注度

princess 王妃，公主

render 表达，表现；使成为；给予，提供

occupant 占有人，占用者

land sb with sth 给某人惹下麻烦，给某人出难题

indiscriminately 不加选择地，不分青红皂白地

alligator 短吻鳄

implication 可能的影响（或作用、结果）；含义，暗示

remorse 悔恨，自责

smirk 傻笑，假笑，得意地笑