Posted on 06/23/2016 11:26:35 AM PDT by Olog-hai
A homeless man convicted of criminal trespassing for taking shelter in privately owned buildings during harsh winter weather won a new trial Thursday when the state’s highest court ruled that he should have been allowed to argue it was his only way to protect himself from the cold.
The Supreme Judicial Court found that the judge at David Magadini’s trial was wrong to deny a request to instruct the jury on a so-called necessity defense. Magadini wanted to use that defense to argue that his behavior was justified for a person trying to escape extreme temperatures. […]
The owners of three properties in Great Barrington had obtained no-trespass orders against Magadini. He was convicted of seven counts of criminal trespass for entering the buildings in February, March, April and June of 2014, and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
Weighing competing harms is an age old legal concept. If true that his life was in imminent harm and that breaking into a property to achieve shelter from the elements was his only option to save his life, he has a decent argument.
However, that has to be kept very narrow otherwise other folks will trespass capriciously.
Perhaps it wasn’t his only option.a jury should have been allowed to decide that.
That has potential to open a can’o’worms. d:^)
One way bus ticket to a “sanctuary” city?
Gee. We would just call them bums.
Find it hard to believe that there were no shelters he could have gone to.
It used to be called vagrancy and it would get you a night in the can.
“I just spent 60 days in the jailhouse
For the crime of having no dough
Now here I am back out on the street again
For the crime of having nowhere to go”
- The Shape I’m In - The Band
If the average taxpayer can be punished for ‘simply not buying health insurance’, then why can’t a person be punished for ‘simply for being homeless’?
It could be interpreted as a violation of the home owner’s third amendment rights/
But they are so mean with all kinds of mean and nasty conditions. Some of them require that you are sober. Some even require that you listen to someone say grace over the food before it is served.
What's a wino atheist bum to do?
We have a porous border. He could go to Mexico and escape our harsh winters. People have a right to own property without free loaders crapping, pissing, and spreading diseases on your property you have saved and invested in.
He probably has too much garbage in tow. Some bums wield 6-8 shopping carts at a time.
“Let them touch those things for once!” —What’s Her Name?
I have read many studies on homelessness and spoken with religious and state workers on the subject. The number of people who have simply run into bad luck and are homeless is very small. The majority are drug and/or alcohol users or mentally disturbed. It is practically impossible to “help” the drug or mental issues people. The city of St. Pete, Fl. was trying to revamp its dying downtown. But the legions of homeless made it impossible. People had to park on the street in front of the businesses they were visiting and the homeless would accost them. I saw a man fling snot on a woman who got out of a Mercedes to go into an antique store because she wouldn’t give him money to get out of her way. The police began very aggressive enforcement and the downtown finally rebounded. The police would frequently arrest the homeless and take them miles away to a booking center and then discover they had nothing to hold them on and just let them go. The next closest city was Clearwater; so they exported the problem to Clearwater. But if the homeless have access to the people who park to get into your business they will run off the customers. Malls don’t have this issue as they are private property. That is why you seldom if ever get panhandled in a mall parking lot.
Celine Dion
Celine Dion. That was either during the Katrina riots or the most rescue efforts in Haiti.
Multiple instances, against specific no-trespass orders. Once, maybe twice, I could believe were actually necessary. But 7 times, through June of 2014?
He should have exactly zero chance to use that defense for all of the counts - especially those during later spring and early summer.
He was trying to illegally squat in the buildings.
Erosion of property rights is one more babystep to eliminate private property ownership, and increase socialism/communism.
SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You are forced by the State to give one to your neighbor.
COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
You had two cows.
The State promises more free cows, lets you vote and gives you sour milk.
FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots your wife and kids.
BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other,
and then throws the milk away.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.
CONTEMPORARY WALL STREETISM
You have two cows.You sell one, bundle the
other with a goat, a mule, and two dry cows.
You pile into the derivatives market, buy a Gulfstream
and when it all comes down around your ears...
You go to the government for a bailout.
That’s for a jury to decide this ruling just let’s him ask the question
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