Central Mass Homeowner Holds "Trespasser" at Gun Point...

Last I knew, the COP for Phillipston is one of the good guys. I took my LTC cert. course from him. Let's hope that it's still him and that nobody goes looking to punish the homeowner for doing what's right.
 
At least the guy has not been brought up on any changes YET!!!

Yeah, yet.

He was released on personal recognizance bail after Judge Arthur F. Haley III rejected a plea agreement which he would have pleaded guilty and accepted a sentence of one year of probation.

I have seen this before. Decent chance the judge just opened the door for charges by the ADA. I am not saying it will happen, but not saying he's in the clear either.
 
The homeowner is a friend of mine. He is a Vietnam Vet. an avid trap shooter, and a member of the campaign team that I am working on.
The paper got some of the facts wrong, This was a straight up burglary attempt.

I have to say kudos to the responding officers and troopers. They assessed the situation and didnt over react. Mind you, the homeowner was shirtless with pajama bottoms and a .38. The suspect was wearing street clothes.
The homeowner envisioned being "cuffed and stuffed", but it never happened. (Thankfully) The Sgt from the MSP barracks in Athol (who lives nearby, and is pro 2A) pretty much took charge and the homeowner should fare pretty well.

As for the trespassing charge? the homeowner, and the cops are pretty pissed about that.

Oh and the quote from the homeowner "Who the fcuk are you and what the fcuk are you doing in my house"
 
The homeowner is a friend of mine. He is a Vietnam Vet. an avid trap shooter, and a member of the campaign team that I am working on.
The paper got some of the facts wrong, This was a straight up burglary attempt.

I have to say kudos to the responding officers and troopers. They assessed the situation and didnt over react. Mind you, the homeowner was shirtless with pajama bottoms and a .38. The suspect was wearing street clothes.
The homeowner envisioned being "cuffed and stuffed", but it never happened. (Thankfully) The Sgt from the MSP barracks in Athol (who lives nearby, and is pro 2A) pretty much took charge and the homeowner should fare pretty well.

As for the trespassing charge? the homeowner, and the cops are pretty pissed about that.

Oh and the quote from the homeowner "Who the fcuk are you and what the fcuk are you doing in my house"

The ADA undercharged, the judge released the guy ROR and refused to let him plead guilty (which may have been a right to counsel thing, but it could be more). Do your friend a favor. Tell him to keep his trap shut and get a good lawyer and don't repeat what he says to others or online.
 
The homeowner is a friend of mine. He is a Vietnam Vet. an avid trap shooter, and a member of the campaign team that I am working on.
The paper got some of the facts wrong, This was a straight up burglary attempt.

I have to say kudos to the responding officers and troopers. They assessed the situation and didnt over react. Mind you, the homeowner was shirtless with pajama bottoms and a .38. The suspect was wearing street clothes.
The homeowner envisioned being "cuffed and stuffed", but it never happened. (Thankfully) The Sgt from the MSP barracks in Athol (who lives nearby, and is pro 2A) pretty much took charge and the homeowner should fare pretty well.

As for the trespassing charge? the homeowner, and the cops are pretty pissed about that.

Oh and the quote from the homeowner "Who the fcuk are you and what the fcuk are you doing in my house"

Nice!
 
The ADA undercharged, the judge released the guy ROR and refused to let him plead guilty (which may have been a right to counsel thing, but it could be more). Do your friend a favor. Tell him to keep his trap shut and get a good lawyer and don't repeat what he says to others or online.

This. Seriously +1000%.
 
Too little info. Wonder what they mean by "held at gunpoint"? Maybe he just had gun out and pointed down and off target. We will never know.
 
1) I agree that the bad guy was under-charged; taking the newspaper recitation at face value, it sounds like clear PC for B&E/NT.

2) In any event, a threat of deadly force to resist a simple trespass is not privileged (and, therefore, not a good idea).

3) Likewise, a B&E/NT to an unoccupied space is not a crime against the person and, on its face, does not present a threat of serious bodily injury to the homeowner. Hence he is out on a limb if he responds with a threat of deadly force.

4) Massachusetts has some strange rules about a citizen's arrest. Basically, it does not recognize a privilege for a citizen to arrest for a misdemeanor and it does not recognize a citizen's use of deadly force to effect any arrest.

5) So, purely from a legal standpoint, our homeowner appears to have dodged a bullet. I hate to say it, but he would have been better advised to call the police and stay inside the house until they arrived.

6) Before a ton of merde comes down on my head: I am not advocating or defending the foregoing, merely reporting it. So long as one lives in this state, one has to recognize that violating its rules brings bad consequences.
 
There are only two reasons to under charge a criminal in a case like this. You have an honest ADA who sees a problem with his/her case and charges conservatively or they are setting up the homeowner for charges. That the ADA had a guilty plea already to go and was rejected is interesting to say the least. That the judge rejected it could mean any number of things but the ROR release is not indicative of a hanging judge so I wouldn't bet the plea was rejected on grounds that it was too lenient. So again, why the rush to plea this guy out? It can have innocent reasons or it could be a setup in a larger play to go after the homeowner. This isn't right and wrong, this is what the law allows and the law is amoral at best.
 
shockingly, the anti-2A comments haven't followed the article, per protocol in this state. I find it amazing that the suspect "didn't know why he was being arrested" and that the article just left the statement like that.

oh wait, no, I worked in media, as one editor said to me: "everything is spin. everything we print, right down to the ****ing obits, is spin." Nice guy. reminded me of Bill Hicks.
 
The sad thing is that even if the homeowner dodges any serious charges, he will likely end up losing his LTC because of this. What a crappy situation to be faced with. Wish our law was similar to TX, or FL, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion at all.
 
1) I agree that the bad guy was under-charged; taking the newspaper recitation at face value, it sounds like clear PC for B&E/NT.

2) In any event, a threat of deadly force to resist a simple trespass is not privileged (and, therefore, not a good idea).

3) Likewise, a B&E/NT to an unoccupied space is not a crime against the person and, on its face, does not present a threat of serious bodily injury to the homeowner. Hence he is out on a limb if he responds with a threat of deadly force.

4) Massachusetts has some strange rules about a citizen's arrest. Basically, it does not recognize a privilege for a citizen to arrest for a misdemeanor and it does not recognize a citizen's use of deadly force to effect any arrest.

5) So, purely from a legal standpoint, our homeowner appears to have dodged a bullet. I hate to say it, but he would have been better advised to call the police and stay inside the house until they arrived.

6) Before a ton of merde comes down on my head: I am not advocating or defending the foregoing, merely reporting it. So long as one lives in this state, one has to recognize that violating its rules brings bad consequences.

Massachusetts make it's subjects cower in the bathroom while on the phone with 911 hoping the bad guy doesn't harm them.
 
The home owner should have just dug a hole. It would be a lot less aggravation in the long run. Shitbags like this will be shitbags forever

Yep, because it's not like the police would ever come "looking" for some random criminal, so who would miss him.[wink]
 
Yep, because it's not like the police would ever come "looking" for some random criminal, so who would miss him.[wink]
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I'm glad the homeowner didn't get charged, he shouldn't get charged. If Marsha or some other DA/ADA decides to, it's just more reason for people to shoot first and claim 'he had a weapon', 'he said he was going to kill me', or he lunged at me; therefore IN FEAR FOR MY LIFE, I shot him. All of this after you get a lawyer on site of course.

Trespass, seriously, that won't even stick with the story and I'm sure the defenses motion to bar the homeowners testimony.
 
Wait. I'm reading this thread trying to figure out what the hell it is you guys are talking about, worried about the homeowner getting in trouble. Are you really saying that if someone breaks into your house or trespasses on your property in MA, you can't arm yourself or hold them at gunpoint until the cops show up?
 
Wait. I'm reading this thread trying to figure out what the hell it is you guys are talking about, worried about the homeowner getting in trouble. Are you really saying that if someone breaks into your house or trespasses on your property in MA, you can't arm yourself or hold them at gunpoint until the cops show up?

The question is would that be a reasonable action for trespass. In Mass., short of the perp having a gun, a simple trespass may not be enough to permit you threatening deadly force with a gun. Yes, Mass. sucks.
 
From how I read it, the douche was clearly breaking into the garage. Thats B&E/NT all day long in my book and thats a felony, not misdemeanor. Whether the courts undercharged or not (libtarded asshats), at the time of the incident it was a felony and the homeowner should be all set. Hopefully anyways.....
 
Wait. I'm reading this thread trying to figure out what the hell it is you guys are talking about, worried about the homeowner getting in trouble. Are you really saying that if someone breaks into your house or trespasses on your property in MA, you can't arm yourself or hold them at gunpoint until the cops show up?

Correct. In most states this isn't enough, but in most states they won't prosecute it. Here they lick their chops when something like this happens.
 
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