Arianah

Maybe the law (if it doesn't already) should be more strict on martial artists. Essentially, when you are training, you are being handed the ability to cause harm. This is like having a weapon. Having a gun can help give you the upper hand in a fight; training can also do this. But if you have a gun, you have to know when it is proper to use it and when it is excessive. The responsibility should be placed on the martial artist to know how much is too much. (Though I've read posts that stated that one should "show no mercy" )

If you have training, you should be able to know exactly how much harm you can inflict, whereas an untrained person may be surprised by the amount of damage s/he can do (I'm sure that the man in the article was shocked by the fact that he had killed the referee, and had no intent.) When you were a kid, did you ever hit one of your friends playfully, and s/he started crying? We can often do more damage than we think, and it is our job to know exactly how much force to use when we are being taught effective (and deadly) fighting skills.

I would (in many ways) hope that martial ability be taken into account by the law--just as other advantages like size or weapons--in events like this.