I'm no lawyer, but as someone who remembers the ludicrous, counterproductive ramifications of schoolyard "zero tolerance" policies against physical fighting (you might as well escalate any fight with a bully because you'll be punished no matter what), and as someone who's been let off the hook by cops a couple times in my life, I'm a firm believer in upholding the spirit of the law, not the letter. People aren't machines. The letter of the law exists merely for people to interpret and apply with good judgment and consideration of context, complexities of which are often offloaded into the phrase "a reasonable person".

Police can let people off the hook because they are already dealing in exceptional cases. They only get involved by exception, and making exceptions on exceptions is scalable.

Everyone should expect flexibility when the law is applied to a case where it doesn't make sense. If someone makes the wrong assumption and is surprised, that is a risk they took and I am ok with that. This doesn’t mean the law needs to be applied unwavering when it doesn’t make sense.