Posted on 12/04/2014 3:09:53 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
This past summer, Montana resident Markus Kaarma pleaded not guilty to killing a 17-year-old German exchange student who had entered his garage. At the time, his lawyer said he would defend Kaarma using the state's version of the "castle doctrine," which says that a man's home is his castle and can be defended as such.
Opening statements concluded today in Kaarma's murder trial with prosecutors alleging that he shot Diren Dede in cold blood. Paul Ryan, Kaarma's attorney, said his client, who had been burgled before, was acting in self-defense.
Kaarma fired four times without warning after an intruder tripped sensors he had installed.
Ryan, Kaarma's attorney, noted that Kaarma didn't know if the intruder was armed. He added that his client had social anxiety and, after the previous burglaries, had felt that his partner and their child were in danger. Ryan also said Kaarma's actions were permitted under the state's "castle doctrine."
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I have friends who listen to NPR. When I show up at their place they turn it off knowing how I feel about NPR. They’re liars, hypocrites, biased, slant, spin and are down right disingenuous ....
“The Castle Doctrine doesn’t allow you to shoot someone that wanders into your garage. “
I haven’t read the Montana law. In Colorado, he would have had to break into the garage, not just enter through an open door. I imagine an attached garage would count as part of your house but I’m not absolutely sure.
The garage qualifies in Montana. The point is that the Castle Doctrine, like Stand Your Ground, only addresses one element of self-defense. Whether you have a duty to retreat. Neither is a license to shoot. The other elements of self-defense still apply. Generally speaking, you can’t shoot someone that calmly walks into your house without posing an imminent and deadly threat.
The Montana statue specifies only “unlawful entry”, which means it covers trespassing even with no “breaking & entering”.
Sounds like he did the right thing. Nothing puts fear down the spine of would-be burglars than news like these.
probably in particular if you rig your garage up with alarm sensors and then leave the door wide open.
What’s as much of an annoyance is the fact that these clowns always are set up so you can’t just email them the facts, you have to join or have FB, Twitter, etc...
So the young German boy was probably trying to commit burlary. Got caught and was shot. That part should be quickly dealt with by the jury.
“...Clark said Kaarma fired four times without warning after an intruder tripped sensors he had installed. There was a pause between the third and fourth shots, she said....”
Now this part could be a little more problematic. Shooting until you are “sure” a suspect is no longer a threat, isn't usually a problem. A pause, if extensively long and followed by the fatal shot, could be a problem for the homeowner. It would look like executing a wounded man to most juries.
Lessons learned.....scream at the top of your lungs, “I am afraid for my life” (so you can take a lie detector test as to what you said to establish state of mind), shoot until the suspect is no longer a threat then take your finger off the trigger and call 911, if you haven't done so already. If you paused to clear a misfire or malfunction, that would be understandable, but you would want to make sure that one ammo round agreed wtih the story. If you are a humanitarian, you can always check for a pulse and breathing. No matter what you find, you can then do quick chest compressions breaking the suspects ribs and providing yourself the claim that once you no longer felt threatend you held no ill will against the suspect and wanted to try to give him every chance to live.
A Montana jury (depending on who gets on it) could make short work of this decision.
Uninvited? An intruder? Why not? How close do you have to let them get? It doesn't take long for someone to whip out a gun or close the distance and stick a knife in your gut.
I would give a huge benefit of the doubt to the homeowner. Now if the intruder surrendered and the homeowner executed him, that's a different story.
You could say the same about everyone on the sidewalk when you are walking down the street. They COULD pull out a weapon and start attacking. But is it reasonable to act as if they are?
A guy just wandering into your garage without any obvious threatening behavior? He could be lost. He could be drunk. You'd have a hard time claiming self-defense without an objectively reasonable, imminent, deadly threat. That is what the law requires.
"Court records said Kaarma and his wife, Janelle Pflager, had set up sensors outside the garage, a video monitoring system in the garage and left the garage door open. Pflager said she put personal items that she had cataloged in a purse in the garage "so that they would take it."Early Sunday, the sensors went off, and Kaarma and Pflager looked at the video feed and saw that someone was in the garage.
Kaarma went outside with his shotgun. He told investigators he heard a noise that sounded like metal on metal, and he was afraid the intruder would come out and hurt him. He said he did not see anyone in the darkened garage and did not communicate with anyone before sweeping the garage with four shotgun blasts. Dede was struck in the head and arm and died at a Missoula hospital, court records said."
So Montana has a law that you must warn an intruder/burgler before you shoot? Don’t think so.
...had felt that his partner and their child were in danger
***
I don’t know about him or his “partner”, but perhaps the child is in danger.
You seem to be too sure of yourself, this defense may prove viable, especially in MT.
I do know that under similar circumstances I would advise you against walking into my garage.
Self-defense law is something I've taken a special interest in. Don't count on this working. Especially given that he seems to have laid a trap in the hope of catching a thief.
"I do know that under similar circumstances I would advise you against walking into my garage."
I don't plan on it, but I'd advise you against shooting anyone that does happen to walk in to your garage, unless they do present a real deadly threat.
N.B.: the name Kaarma seems to be uniquely Estonian.
Diren Dede was not ethnically German, but a Turkish-Muslim student *from* Germany.
“Generally speaking, you can’t shoot someone that calmly walks into your house without posing an imminent and deadly threat.”
I haven’t read the Montana statute and castle doctrine laws are not all created equal. In Colorado, the statute is very clear that the person has to have broken in (including coming in through an unlocked door) and you have to articulate that you thought they were going to commit ANY illegal act in your home. You do not have to have any concern for your own safety. No one can second guess you, you will never see a jury and no one can sue you. That’s why we call it the “make my day law”. Other states may have significantly weaker Castle Doctrine laws, your results may vary.
The jury found him guilty today.
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