Posted on 05/31/2012 8:25:13 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Despite ‘Castle Doctrine,’ defendant is convicted in slaying
A PHILADELPHIA JUDGE said Wednesday he was convinced that a disabled, retired Marine was being attacked in the moments before he fatally stabbed a man last October, but he concluded that the stabbing was still a criminal act rather than self-defense.
Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner then convicted Jonathan Lowe, 57, of voluntary manslaughter and possession of an instrument of crime. The judge found him not guilty of the more-serious charges of first- and third-degree murder.
Lowe, who wears a pacemaker and has survived two strokes and two heart surgeries, could face up to 12 1/2 to 25 years in prison when Lerner sentences him Aug. 16.
The case underscores how uncertain the claim of self-defense can be, even in a state that revised its "Castle Doctrine" last year to give an individual the right to use deadly force in self-defense anywhere in which a person has a legal right to be. The revised law also eliminated the duty to retreat before using that force. Lowe’s case was featured in March in a Daily News article about the revision of that doctrine.
The voluntary-manslaughter conviction means that Lowe committed the stabbing under provocation but that his actions were unreasonable, or imperfect self-defense, Lerner said.
"There are some unanswered questions in my mind about what happened here," Lerner said. "We will never know exactly how this incident began, and I don’t think we will ever know, 100 percent, when the stabbing began."
During the two-day nonjury trial, Lowe and his attorney, Samuel C. Stretton, argued that he acted in self-defense on the evening of Oct. 1, 2011, when he was jumped by Loren Manning Jr., 51, and at least two other men on Cecil B. Moore Avenue near Bouvier Street.
"When he had his hands around my neck, I pulled out my knife and started stabbing him," Lowe testified Wednesday.
Stretton noted that Lowe stayed at the scene and cooperated with police, believing himself to be the victim.
Stretton said case law barred him from introducing Manning’s 18 criminal convictions at trial because Lowe wasn’t aware of them and most of them were too old, the most recent from 2002. According to court records, Manning was awaiting trial for allegedly knocking out a woman’s teeth while robbing her two years ago Thursday.
Assistant D.A. Carolyn Naylor argued this week that Lowe had been the aggressor.
Lowe testified that he used a small, quick-open knife to stab Manning after being knocked to the ground and choked during a robbery attempt.
Two Temple University students said Manning was chasing Lowe and trying to hit him with a metal pole before he caught him. Manning then pinned Lowe to the ground, they said.
But both students said they did not see Lowe stab Manning while the two men were on the ground, nor after Manning got up and quickly collapsed from four stab wounds in his neck, thigh and back.
Naylor seized on inconsistencies between the testimonies of Lowe and the students, including where the stabbing took place. She argued that before the students came upon the struggle, Lowe stabbed Manning from behind before both men ended up on the ground.
She noted that two stab wounds were in Manning’s back. She also said Lowe showed intent to kill with malice because after Manning fell mortally wounded, Lowe taunted him and even tried to stab him some more.
I agree with you in the hope that Prayer will open up doors. I say Pray and PREPARE.
KYPD.
WTF was this poor guys lawyer? The prosecution?
He needs a lawyer, not what ever was posing as a lawyer (did he/she at least stay at a holiday inn express?) to file an appeal ASAP.
Not only is this case extremely bad for the Marine, watch for it to be used in other cases (Zimmerman?)
I grew up in Minnesota... I go with what I know... ;-)
The guy convicted was disabled and in a wheel chair while his attacker (Manning) had 18 convictions including several for violent assault. Manning was also awaiting trial for assault as he knocked out a woman’s two front teeth while he was robbing her.
Bad move by the defense attorney.
Hey, it’s Philadelphia. Felons are an important Democrat constituency.
was this another black attacking a white and the white fighting back?....the shame of it all...
[ The guy convicted was disabled and in a wheel chair while his attacker (Manning) had 18 convictions including several for violent assault. Manning was also awaiting trial for assault as he knocked out a woman’s two front teeth while he was robbing her. ]
This is getting ridiculous, the Marine was in a damned wheelchair and only stabbed the guy AFTER he was being CHOKED to DEATH!!!! I guess he should have just become a “victim” and died passively with another mans hands around his “leather neck”.
The guy who strangled him was TRYING TO KILL HIM!!!!!!
If the strangler was trying to get away he could have easy outran ther guy inthe wheel chair. Plus the strangler had a pattern of PAST criminal activity and assault.
This calls for a Pardon from our POTUS, if we actually had a REAL POTUS.
“When there is a a Multitude of Dumb Laws, there is an Absence of Justice!”
it seems to me that being attacked, period, is the CRIME here, not the defense of oneself....
but remember folks...remember, support bamey and holder....we need more of this, dontchaknow...
There are pros and cons to each. As a judge generally has to document the reasons for finding as he/she does, there’s something more substantial to take to the appellate level than the gut sense of a jury. Juries today aren’t wise, aware, bright people as of old. They are the next evolutionary step over mushroom farms.
[ possession of an instrument of crime. ]
So that covers knives now too....
You can commit a crime with pipes, cell phones, bottles, etc.... So can they arrest you for ANYTHING these days?
Knife Rights are JUST as IMPORTANT if not moreso than Gun Rights!
Trusting this will be bounced on appeal...
and/or--perhaps a move to Federal Court...
Just sayin'
why are judges “Honorable”???....and not doctors, who really save people......
Courts are SUPPOSED to be places of honor. But they are not, when chimpanzees conduct them.
It seems to me that Judge Lerner made the correct decision in the context of Philly realpolitik: his own career progresses unimpaired by controversy, the defendent has obvious grounds for a successful appeal, and the public was spared the expense of a lengthy jury trial, so no harm done.
The Czechs have a whole literature about this sort of thing.
Welcome to the XXI Century, same as the old century...
More background info about Judge Benjamin Lerner (w/ photo) ...
Senior Judge Court of Common Pleas - Judge Lerner
What a sick travesty.
So, as I read it, the evidence indicated that this Manning, who has 18 priors, chased down the disabled Lowe, caught him, knocked him to the ground, and was in the process of choking him when Lowe pulled out his small knife and began defending himself, stabbing the assailant, who died from the injuries.
What is there not to understand? Of course there are going to be some inconsistancies from two witnesses who saw the criminal chasing Lowe and Lowe who experienced it all. Bit I did not read orr hear of anything that would altrer the basic facts above.
Had he not defended himself, it sounds like he very likely could have been killed.
Is the Judge a bleeding heart liberal? Is the Judge like Holder, someone who believes society owes black criminals (and I have no idea whether Manning or any of the others are black or not) a pass because of 150 year old history, or something like that?
For the life of me I cannot understand what gives here.
I hope Lowe appeals this and is exonerated on appeal. Sounds like he most certainly should be.
America at the Crossroads of History
http://www.jeffhead.com/crossroads.htm
Why a bench trial? Craziness.
Absolutely not guilty. Give Lowe a medal.
Philly. All I need to know.
Photo of ...
Anne Bryant, sister of Jonathan Lowe, displays photos of him in his days as a Marine. (Shumita Basu / Staff Photographer)
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