Posted on 04/05/2017 12:01:57 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A Washington state man is facing a possible first-degree murder charge after shooting an intruder he found taking a shower in a property he owned — in a case authorities and legal experts said appeared to go beyond self-defense laws.
Bruce Fanning, 59, is accused of fatally shooting Nathaniel Rosa, 31, after he discovered Rosa bathing early Saturday morning in Belfair, Washington, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities say Fanning discovered his place of business, which is near his home, had been broken into and found Rosa in the shower.
Fanning told investigators he confronted Rosa, who responded with "some unintelligible words that seemed threatening to him and that he appeared drunk," Mason County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Ryan Spurling told NBC News.
Image: Washington state A homeowner shot an intruder after finding the man in his shower in Mason County, Wash. Mason County Sheriff's Office Fanning then left the building, went next door to his home and got a hand gun, returned and shot Rosa, Spurling said.
Both Spurling and a press release from the sheriff's office said Fanning did not try interact with Rosa again before shooting him.
"He wasn't in any danger when he left the residence," Spurling said, later adding, "He reinserted himself, saw the individual was still showering and shot him — that's not self-defense."
Authorities arrested Fanning on suspicion of second-degree murder, but a clerk at the Mason County Superior Court told NBC News that a judge at Fanning's court appearance on Monday found there was probable cause for first-degree murder — which would require prior intent to kill.
Fanning has not yet been charged with either first or second degree murder but is being held at the Mason County Jail on $250,000 bail, prosecutor Mike Dorsey told NBC News. He was scheduled to be arraigned on April 10.
Dorsey said investigators were still working out the details of how Rosa ended up at Fanning's residence, but noted that on that street there were several "almost identical" looking houses.
Legal experts told NBC News on Tuesday that while the specific case was still being investigated, even the most permissive self-defense laws or gun laws still required using deadly force to be necessary to preserve one's life, or that of another.
Play How US compares to rest of world on gun laws Facebook Twitter Embed How US compares to rest of world on gun laws 3:52 Heidi Li Feldman, professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, said Washington state "has permissive gun ownership and use laws, and it specifically is a state that doesn't have any duty to retreat," referring to a legal requirement that a person under threat must retreat from the threat rather as much as possible rather than resort to use of force.
Feldman said that even states with so-called "stand your ground" laws, which allow people to use force without retreating in order to protect themselves, there must be a reasonable threat.
"None of these doctrines let you shoot someone just for being on your property," she said.
Washington state law says no person shall be placed in "legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever" for protecting themselves "by any reasonable means necessary, himself or herself, his or her family, or his or her real or personal property, or for coming to the aid of another who is in imminent danger of or the victim of assault, robbery, kidnapping, arson, burglary, rape, murder, or any other violent crime."
The sheriff's department included in its press release that state law also rules a person can use force lawfully to defend themselves or someone in their vicinity if they are about to be injured, and said they found in their initial investigation that this case did not support "reasonable" or "necessary" self-defense.
"It's not clear that somebody standing in your shower, naked and maybe not all that communicative, is in fact posing the sort of threat to you that would justify the use of force in defending yourself," Feldman noted.
Image: Mason County, Wash. Police investigate the shooting. Mason County Sheriff's Office Robert Cottrol, a law professor at George Washington University, said many laws around the country draw a distinction between "self-defense, which is when you're in imminent peril, and self-help, which is taking the law into your own hands."
"There are aspects of the case — like the fact that it took place in the home — that complicate it, but I don't think the arrest is by any means out of the question," he said.
"Where's the imminent harm? Where's the upturned knife that you're about to be struck by," he added.
Mason County Coroner Wes Stockwell told NBC News on Tuesday that Rosa died from four gunshot wounds to the torso. He said his office would be doing a toxicology report, but that results would not be available for several weeks.
Stockwell said Rosa's family told him the victim had been visiting his mother, who lives in the town of Belfair, and friends for the weekend.
Rosa was a special education teacher at Woodmoor Elementary School in Bothell, Washington, according to school district officials. He was hired in July 2015. It was unclear why he would have been taking a shower on Fanning's property.
"This is a devastating loss for our school community," Principal Angela Kerr said in an email to families obtained by NBC News.
Northshore School District Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a separate email to staff that Rosa "was a compassionate and dedicated educator who made a difference in the lives of many and will be dearly missed."
Fanning's niece, Christal Farster, told NBC affiliate KING5 on Monday that her uncle was a private person.
"He is a great uncle," she told the station as she left the courtroom. "I feel for the whole situation, all the families and stuff."
Ok daddy,
What would your call be had the guy shot the intruder in the leg?
Just asking, not being critical,Thanks
Something here just doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would the guy continue showering through all this? Whether he was an intruder or just confused and at the wrong house, seems like he would have turned off the shower and gotten out when the owner left. At first I thought maybe the showering man was mentally retarded or maybe had Alzheimer’s, but the article said he was a teacher so he had to be mentally aware. Just seems unbelievable that he just continued showering. Makes me wonder if the whole story is a lie.
you cannot hang up a cell phone from a 911 call. but you can put it down. probably wise to cover the mic
I’ll just say I have mixed feelings about that one. We only have one witness.
Here’s what I suspect. When the owner entered the house the first time, he saw or heard something suspicious. It didn’t rise to the level of calling police, but he didn’t want to investigate further without a gun. Maybe he heard the shower, or saw something out of place. He left, got his gun, and came back to see what was going on. Then he was surprised by the guy in the shower, and panicked.
I read where he had been at a party, went for a walk and got all wet in the rain, then came back and got in the shower. So he may have been drunk, hung-over and got into the wrong house. He may have thought that the shooter was also staying at the house, and the deceased was pissed about the guy telling him to get out of the shower. “Go away, there will be plenty of water for you!”
Of course the homeowner the second time could have been perceived by the drunk as the one doing the “intruding”. One article said their were four houses in a row on this rural road (I used to rent a house like that - four homes on the old farmstead that at one time housed the four kids and their families). And someone surmised that the drunk made his way into the wrong home.
So the drunk could have met the actual owner and perceived him as a threat. Would make my idea of making a citizen’s arrest much more dangerous and complicated.
“Get out of my house! Or I’m making a citizen’s arrest.”)
“What do you mean YOUR house, this is my Aunt’s house - YOU get out!!”
Of course, you can hang up. Why couldn't you? Is there some law that requires you to stay on the line?
you cannot hang up a cell phone call to 911. The technology does not permit you to initiate the hang-up. Only 911 can hang up the call.
True.
Anyone with a firearm for self defense should read “In the Gravest Extreme” and/or take a training class in what is justifiable and what’s not. Its not that complicated, you can not be the aggressor, instigator, or re-initiate a conflict once contact has been broken. If you shoot someone without complete justification at best you will go to trial and spend a ton of money. At worst you are going to jail. The guy in Washington will almost certainly be prosecuted.
The problem is that the homeowner left to get a gun. That’s premeditation. If he’d had the gun on him to begin with that would be entirely different.
The lesson: If you cannot legally carry a gun you should have one in your home. Then when there’s an intruder in your home you don’t have to leave your home to get a gun and put your use of the gun on far less sound legal grounds.
Yep, that sounds FAR more credible.
Who’s to say the dude wasn’t hiding behind the shower curtain with a gun? Does the homeowner have the obligation to open the curtain to determine if the intruder is armed?
Some, yes. But the majority of comments on this case aren't in support of the defendant. Laws and enforcement vary from State to State, so you're going to get varied opinions based on individual circumstances and experiences. Lots of us are CCW card carriers and have taken required courses that spell out in sobering detail what can go wrong legally whenever one decides to use lethal force.
To all the bleeding hearts on FR: Any person usurping the property of another deserves waht they get, even be it death.
not on an old land line.
you cannot hang up a cell phone call to 911. The technology does not permit you to initiate the hang-up.
not on an old land line.
________________
True but they have your number and will call back.
Gun Sales Are Surging Among an Unusual Group
By
S. Noble -
April 4, 2017
Gun sales have slumped overall but there are some unusual groups buying guns who never bought guns before. Sales among minorities, women and LGBTs in particular have risen since the Pulse nightclub attack.
They are buying guns because they are fearful of attacks by Trump supporters though they really should be afraid of the Obama supporters, like the madman who shot up the Pulse nightclub.
Whatever it takes for people to realize they need to be responsible for themselves and not reliant upon government is likely a good thing.
http://www.independentsentinel.com/gun-sales-surging-among-unusual-group/
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