Man accused of shooting suspected burglar acquitted of murder

[Cuz]

Great news! Too bad it took 3 years to get that finding.

and it's not over yet. I'm sure there will be a civil suit brought by the family. I can only imagine what it is/will cost him for his defense. I wonder if he had it to do over again if he would make the exact same decision...

-Cuz.

P.S. Please don't take this post as any kind of sympathy for the victim. I don't mean it like that. It's just that the guy was very, very, very lucky he wasn't found guilty. If it happened like it says, it normally doesn't end like this around here.

 

[Garys]

Len, isn't that mostly a matter of the DA posture/prosecutorial discretion?

IMO the same law in a gun friendly state would have different outcomes.

-Mike

In many other states, Texas comes to mind, the Grand Jury would "no bill" the guy and he'd be off the criminal hook. As to civil, I don't know.

Gary

 

[JRyan]

You don't want to die over property, stay out off of other people's.

Gary

Exactly!

 

[KMaurer]

It's not a question of the law, but the general practice of the DAs. Whether or not a shooting actually was legal self defense is always an open question. The only way a law could prevent prosecutions would be to say that if you kill somebody in your home, regardless of the circumstances, it isn't a crime. That's never going to happen in any state, nor would you want it. The problem here is that there's nothing to be gained and everything to lose for a presecutor to decide not to proescute a self defense shooting, no matter how obvious. In most other states, public opinion is more likely to cause him to make the call himself in clear cases.

This guy was truely lucky, since this case as described stretches the concept of self defense to the limits and (IMHO) beyond.

Ken

 

[RKG]

Justice, like some other attributes, is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[SKS Ray]

I was hoping Scrivener would chime in on this topic. I'd like to hear his thoughts on it.