Posted on 11/29/2011 5:42:45 AM PST by Daffynition
Is a fist a dangerous instrument?
Lawyers spent some 50 minutes Monday arguing the question in the state's highest court as justices interjected questions.
Richard Condon Jr., a senior assistant public defender, argued that Steeve LaFleur should not have been convicted of first-degree assault with a dangerous instrument. A jury found him guilty of the charge after a trial; LaFleur, who turned 36 Monday, is serving an 18-year prison sentence for the crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
Police: Christmas Ornament Used As Weapon
SOUTHINGTON—
A woman allegedly doing her holiday shoplifting at a Christmas Craft Fair Sunday afternoon is facing a host of felony charges after police say she stabbed someone with a seashell Christmas ornament.
Ruth Wagner, of Burritt Street in the Plantsville section of town, was arrested Sunday afternoon at her home. Police were led to Wagner after witnesses took down her license plate as she fled from the craft fair at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, police said.
CHUCK NORRIS, need I say more?
If it helps them answer their question I would draw my gun on someone threatening me with their fist.
There have been several local bar fights that resulted in death after just a single punch.
Sadly in CT, *you’d* probably be the one arrested for *brandishing.*
I swear, this state makes me nutz! GRRR!
It all depends. A 20-year-old man punching a 20-year-old man of similar physique is probably not deadly force. A muscular 20-year-old punching a frail 60-year-old is using potentially-deadly force, and it would be reasonable for the 60-yo to respond with deadly force.
This is ridiculous. An “instrument” in the plain dictionary definition is a “device.” Your hand is not a “device,” it’s your hand. To think that the law’s drafters meant anything different is patently absurd, and someone should jail whoever charged him in that manner for criminal stupidity.
He attacked his ex-girlfriend on a New Haven street on Aug. 21, 2008, punching her 20 to 30 times. The assault caused extensive trauma to her right eye, fractures of multiple facial bones, and a broken nose, according to a Supreme Court summary of the case.That level of force would have merited a "deadly force" response.
Just about anywhere in the US you can respond with deadly force if you are threatened not only with the risk of death, but “great bodily harm” as well.
Indeed. Fist, bat, knife, or gun. None of them should be the focus in a violent confrontation. The only concern should be shutting down the CNS of the person wielding them.
If the SS shot moochelle, while protecting the one, would he turn on them and rat them out to his pal, Holder?
Two punks on Roller Blades tried to jump an 80 year old man in Malden MA for the Money Bag he had from the Parking Lot he works at. He knocked the 1st one out with one punch and the other took off. The “old man” is in the Golden Tornado Club as one of the best football players in the High School’s history. He is also one hell of a bartender.
is a fist an “instrument”? or an “implement”? Can stores and public places ban hands?
I love reading stories like that. Thanks!
It all depends. A 20-year-old man punching a 20-year-old man of similar physique is probably not deadly force. A muscular 20-year-old punching a frail 60-year-old is using potentially-deadly force, and it would be reasonable for the 60-yo to respond with deadly force.Which is why the law, and this particular application of it, is so stupid, and why the ruling could be so dangerous.
Do they lack the proper law for giving someone a long sentence for committing "grievous bodily harm" -- or they have the law and the prosecutor and judge are too stupid to use it?
The point is, they shouldn't have focused on (or been forced to focus on) the fist; they should have focused on (or been able to focus on) the extent of the injuries. THAT's what he should be serving a long prison sentence for, not for the irrelevant fact that he used his fist.
I don't care what he used -- fist, badminton racket, dinner fork, potted plant -- if he viciously and maliciously caused that long list of injuries he deserves a long stay in prison.
I guess our "justice system" is just too stupid to get to the heart of the matter.
Reading this after just reading about the social workers who removed a fat kid from his parents because they didn’t make him lose weight. I guess this article means we’ll all have to have our fists cut off, I find this country increasingly bizarre!
They wanted to twist and warp the law so that they could nail him with a 5-year mandatory minimum and 20-year maximum sentence for first-degree assault, instead of a 5-year maximum for second-degree assault.
Vigilante prosecutors are more dangerous than gang members.
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