Posted on 07/06/2011 8:25:21 PM PDT by Nachum
CHEHALIS, Wash. - An Onalaska man who shot and killed a man who he thought was going to rob him will spend more than five years in prison. Lewis County Judge Nelson Hunt sentenced Ronald Brady to the maximum possible sentence, 63 months. A jury found Brady guilty of manslaughter last month. "I think the jury missed this one," said Jack Tipping, a friend of Brady. "This is a great victory for burglars."
(Excerpt) Read more at king5.com ...
Most of the time, no grand jury will even indict you. It never gets to court.
Use of deadly force can sometimes be justified to prevent theft of property whose loss can make a radical difference in livelihood of its owners.
And which state are you referring to (other than Washington)?
The robbers had broke into his house earlier, and piled up a bunch of loot in the garage to come back and take later.
Brady came to the house, called the cops, who came and told him that the robbers would likely come back later that night to pick up what they had piled up. And then the cops told him that he was on his own, and left.
The robbers had prior histories a mile long. That fact was kept from the jury.
The sheriff who investigated assured Brady that he wouldn’t be prosecuted. As a result, Brady did not retain a lawyer for months. Those facts were also kept from the jury.
This verdict is an absolute travesty of justice.
Or, “Stupid never takes a holiday”.
Agree....
When I was a kid my Grandfather made it clear to me and my siblings that if we were to trespass on a neighbor’s property we could be shot. Needless to say we never did and had respect for those boundaries. I remember an old house that was rather decrepit and deteriorating on the corner. It was completely fenced with a locked gate with NO TRESPASSING posted all around. Yeah... we were intrigued and always wondered about the inhabitant of that house. It was a little old lady, but I am sure to this day that she was packing and ready to shoot. My Dad said most people where he grew up had shotguns with ... I think he said rock salt???? No matter scared all of us enough we kept to ourselves and off the property of others.
This sounds like present day England. The devil might be in the details, but if the homeowner had been a cop it’s pretty sure he would escape censure, let alone punishment, for the very same thing “I thought I saw a gun so that’s why I shot him.”
It’s kind of hard to appeal upon the basis of ineffective counsel if the homeowner waited for months to get counsel. But what a dirty trick. He might have fared better in a bench trial, which is where you are usually better off to go if you’re innocent under the law. I hope the governor commutes or better, pardons.
Why, if he shot at the car as reported, would the occupants begin to walk up the driveway “unarmed”? I put that in quotes since the ones who escaped could easily have jettisoned any weapons the group had had.
I wish the news report got into this part a little deeper. How did the cops know this?
Yep. Huge fan of jury nullification here.
Whew, thanks for that info.
I agree, this prosecution was a disgrace.
Really?? Were "Welcome To" and "You Are Now Leaving" on opposite sides of the same post?? My home town in Louisiana was like that.
“This is just one reason to never talk to the cops.”
One of the first things taught in the CC class the I took some years ago in North Carolina! This video should be a requirement for everybody:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
I’ve seen that video a number of times.
A link would be helpful.
That isn’t what I was correcting on what you said. You said that it is illegal, in most states, to shoot someone just because you think they are going to steal from you, or if you catch them stealing from you.
The law says that if I “believe” (think) that someone is going to do harm to me (kill/hurt) or my property (steal), then I can defend it, up to, and including, deadly force.
Again, I am not referring to this specific case, just your overreaching comments beyond that.
FWIW - Our new Governor Corbett(R) is turning things around in PA.
In what state are you located?
Would you furnish the link to the law?
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