Marine Accused in Shooting Pleads Innocent -- decorated Marine Daniel Cotnoir

Associated Press ^ | August 16, 2005 | DENISE LAVOIE

[mylife]

Warning shot Schmorning shot..

He may have been justified as I said ealier in as much as the crowd may have been considered threatening and it is unresonable under certain cercumstance (nightfall) to be able to determine if threatening people are armed.

However, the Man did not shoot to kill and the crowd was not on his property, tho they did threaten his property by throwing the bottle.

Its a very gray area.

Best to know what you rights are and always use a Gun as a last defense...And shoot to kill

[Yasotay]

The Marine of the year is unfortunately in Mass not Texas. An interesting sidenote, when the Cubans would starting rioting in their camps, I knew several MPs who would go into those Cuban "refuge" camps firing birdshot at the pavement to hit the Cubans in the lower legs (interesting version of riot control) that worked very well. If the Marine was using birdshot I would think it would be tough for a jury, even in Mass., to convict a crime "with intent to murder". I remember our next door neighbor who was a farmer with a shotgun shooting at us kids with rocksalt ..... now if the marine was at close range with No 4 buckshot then maybe .... BTW the farmer never hit me.

[Texas_Jarhead]

I would never argue that he should not be held to account for his actions but I don't want to see him railroaded either.

[rdcorso]

He did call the cops to complain about the noise but it doesn't say if they showed up or not.He also has been seeing someone to help him deal with the stresses of Iraq.I'm not going to condone what he did but the service her performed in Iraq had to be tough.Putting together the missing pieces of your fellow Marines who most likely died a violent death has to take a toll on you.

[GoodWithBarbarians JustForKaos]

"A coat in mid aug....?"

Late at night maybe? The desert can get cool at night.

[GoodWithBarbarians JustForKaos]

It seems like a lot of posters here are underplaying the bottle, his broken window and cut finger, with kids inside. Plus if he shot at a wall or something and it was a ricochet, with bird shot, it could be considered an accident. - IMHO

Need more info.

[Smokin' Joe]

I'm with you. The bottle through the window makes this a defense issue, not PTSD.

Shotgun pellets skipped off of pavement are a great crowd disperser, with lower leg wounds of a superficial nature not uncommon.

If he had meant to kill or severely injure people, I am sure he was capable of doing either if the need arose.

Imho, this is aother 'Vietnam flashback' by the media, attempting to draw another parallel. The attorneys are not helping much. When people (especially a mob) start throwing bottles through windows, you are right to be concerned for the welfare of your family.

[C210N]

Many details are being left out of this story because they don't back up the "Marine killer returns from Bush's illegal war for oil and opens fire on innocent, wholesome revelers" angle...

A caller this morning on Blute/Scotto claims to have known Dan for many years and added many more details. EG: The owner of the next door pub was a brother of a local cop. There have been many many calls over the years, pre-dating Iraq or perhaps even Dan becoming a Marine.

[Modernman]

Here is the thing, he has the right to shoot a warning shot, as long as his weapon was registered.

Into a crowd of passersby? Not at all. Generally, you have a right to defend yourself from an imminent deadly threat. However, it is hard to see how that would apply to a situation where a crowd of people were under your window and you decided to fire near that crowd.

Probably not attempted murder, though. He'll plead down to something like endangerment.