General Discussion

X_Digger

(18,585 posts)

50. And what exactly does distance have to do with it?

Sat Mar 24, 2012, 01:20 AM

Mar 2012

20 year old 'child' marine breaks into your sun room / enclosed porch, is crouched down- you speak to him, he gets up raising his hand and starts walking toward you. It's 2am, you have no idea if the person in front of you wants to do you and your family harm- is he one of the drunken revelers from next door? Is he pissed that the cops came and broke up the party? Is there a reason he's hiding from the cops?

Hint, everyone is someone's child.

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159 replies

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No charges filed against homeowner accused of shooting Bo Morrison [View all] Are_grits_groceries Mar 2012 OP

I thought Castle Doctrine only applied if the intruder was IN your house auburngrad82 Mar 2012 #1

It was an enclosed porch I think.... Little Star Mar 2012 #2

Twice I have chased intruders from my home. I have never had to fire a shot. Just hearing a rifle appleannie1 Mar 2012 #3

I once heard a personal safety expert say -- Hell Hath No Fury Mar 2012 #4

It is more common in defensive gun usages for no shots to be fired... Lizzie Poppet Mar 2012 #5

He was drugged up. Drahthaardogs Mar 2012 #141

moreover, in the event you do need to discharge your shotgun.. frylock Mar 2012 #7

Depend what you stoke it with .... BOHICA12 Mar 2012 #34

I worked in a PD for 15 years. Most burglars are not armed and more homeowners are shot with their appleannie1 Mar 2012 #11

That's the best weapon for home defense, but a dog is the best thing. Incitatus Mar 2012 #43

it is a universally known sound somehow ProdigalJunkMail Mar 2012 #15

Seems reasonable considering it was in the dark at 2am. Pacafishmate Mar 2012 #6

i don't think it was reasonable to shoot him JI7 Mar 2012 #25

Nonsense. ellisonz Mar 2012 #29

Assuming the homeowner is telling the truth that Morrison really did "take a step towards" brentspeak Mar 2012 #8

This is the problem with these shoots... orwell Mar 2012 #9

Doing either is a good way to get killed dmallind Mar 2012 #10

I really don't want to ever kill someone ohheckyeah Mar 2012 #12

that's a good idea ProdigalJunkMail Mar 2012 #16

Yeah, the shooter was in genuine danger and "needed to defend himself" brentspeak Mar 2012 #13

"Shoot to wound" is Hollywood fiction. Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #17

Is firing a warning shot also a "Hollywood fiction"? brentspeak Mar 2012 #18

Warning shots are Hollywood Fiction. ksbsnowowl Mar 2012 #20

He can legally shoot dead an unarmed intruder brentspeak Mar 2012 #86

You have the location wrong. It was the back porch, and he likely trespassed to get there. piedmont Mar 2012 #23

Oh really? Straw Man Mar 2012 #154

Probably raising his right hand to apologize... ellisonz Mar 2012 #30

I think a culture of "don't break into someone's home at 2 am" would have worked even better. nt piedmont Mar 2012 #33

Baloney. ellisonz Mar 2012 #40

Would I want this to happen to a family member? ksbsnowowl Mar 2012 #45

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes." ellisonz Mar 2012 #55

You can do better than cut-n-paste piedmont Mar 2012 #47

This was a party next to the guys house. ellisonz Mar 2012 #54

And this was 2 am, an hour after police were called piedmont Mar 2012 #115

"committing suicide-by-homeowner." ellisonz Mar 2012 #117

It's how our society is ordered gratuitous Mar 2012 #14

+1 Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #38

... SammyWinstonJack Mar 2012 #102

and got root Mar 2012 #19

That seems justifiable... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #21

yeah, but i still don't think it was justified, he could/should have just called the cops JI7 Mar 2012 #22

As said above, if I find someone in my house... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #24

in this case the guy was not inside the home, he was in the porch area hiding from cops JI7 Mar 2012 #26

As explained above, it apparently was a fully enclosed sun room... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #27

It's a fully enclosed porch, not a typical porch but more akin to a sunroom. Selatius Mar 2012 #79

If this guy grabs a baseball bat instead of a gun... ellisonz Mar 2012 #28

Or the kid gets beat to death by a blunt instrument... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #31

Nonsense... ellisonz Mar 2012 #35

THis one is far from inexcusable....the guy came into the other guys house... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #36

Rubbish. ellisonz Mar 2012 #39

I wouldn't expect my kids to be drunk and then break into someone's house to hide from the police Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #48

I did all the time, we usually just left the party if the cops were called Hippo_Tron Mar 2012 #155

Perhaps you missed this.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #41

He didn't have a scratch on him. ellisonz Mar 2012 #44

Nice falsified account in that article there. ksbsnowowl Mar 2012 #46

If it was so dark... ellisonz Mar 2012 #56

The light was off and he could not see what Morrison was doing brentspeak Mar 2012 #157

Did you take video? nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #158

And what exactly does distance have to do with it? X_Digger Mar 2012 #50

We frankly have no idea if we walked toward him... ellisonz Mar 2012 #66

Did you forget the DA's statement, again, or is that intentional? X_Digger Mar 2012 #87

Intentional? ellisonz Mar 2012 #88

So the DA wouldn't have pressed charges, even without castle doctrine, and your response is.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #93

Somehow I think you have an agenda... ellisonz Mar 2012 #94

Nice deflection. X_Digger Mar 2012 #96

What makes you think the DA and the police conducted a fair investigation? ellisonz Mar 2012 #98

Another dodge. X_Digger Mar 2012 #103

And you're defending a killer... ellisonz Mar 2012 #111

And another dodge.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #114

What makes you think the D.A. couldn't indict him and let a jury decide? n/t ellisonz Mar 2012 #116

"Couldn't"? None. But that wasn't the question, was it? n/t X_Digger Mar 2012 #118

Exactly. He's making a choice, and no one is under any obligations to make apologies for this dude. ellisonz Mar 2012 #119

"knowing full well the kid was likely not armed" -- equivocate much? X_Digger Mar 2012 #120

Should go to trial... ellisonz Mar 2012 #121

I notice you still haven't answered my question. n/t X_Digger Mar 2012 #122

The answer to your question is that the D.A. is making a choice... ellisonz Mar 2012 #124

That's a dodge, not an answer. X_Digger Mar 2012 #126

Malice aforethought. ellisonz Mar 2012 #130

That word.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #133

You really don't help your argument... ellisonz Mar 2012 #138

What leads you to believe that the homeowner intended to kill the intruder? X_Digger Mar 2012 #139

He's an experienced gun owner. ellisonz Mar 2012 #140

That's another dodge. X_Digger Mar 2012 #143

There's no dodge there at all. ellisonz Mar 2012 #144

Why do people like not answering my questions? X_Digger Mar 2012 #145

I know where you stand on these issues. ellisonz Mar 2012 #146

Lol, so you didn't actually answer the previous question. Okay. X_Digger Mar 2012 #147

You couldn't buy a clue... ellisonz Mar 2012 #148

Without "Castle Law" the homeowner would have been found justified anyway. ksbsnowowl Mar 2012 #42

Yeah, in this particular case, and after the fact. krispos42 Mar 2012 #32

They aren't saying who called the police in the first place... ellisonz Mar 2012 #37

Actually, the DA and the cops are saying the defending homeowner called police in the first place. ksbsnowowl Mar 2012 #49

So he knew there was the party... ellisonz Mar 2012 #57

Because no bad people ever came to a party? nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #90

Stupid question. ellisonz Mar 2012 #92

It's a very relevant question. You seem to believe that a party somehow means that the homeowner Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #97

You seem to believe one ought to shoot first, and ask questions later... ellisonz Mar 2012 #100

When you find someone skulking within your house, yes. nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #101

Hope you don't shoot the neighbors kid some weekened... ellisonz Mar 2012 #104

20 years old is now a kid? Soon it will be 25 or maybe 30. Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #105

No, I wasn't in the "in" crowd. krispos42 Mar 2012 #51

Well I did go to such parties... ellisonz Mar 2012 #58

Maybe Bo should have manned up and accepted the underage drinking citation instead of breaking... JVS Mar 2012 #62

Really? ellisonz Mar 2012 #64

Really! It's not the homeowner's job to know the intentions of the guy breaking into his house JVS Mar 2012 #71

"or use the doorbell and ask to enter." ellisonz Mar 2012 #74

Do you believe that Bo is entitled to enter other people's houses without their consent? JVS Mar 2012 #77

Do you believe a homeowner is entitled to shoot an unarmed drunk kid in cold blood? ellisonz Mar 2012 #78

How are you defining 'cold blood'?? Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #81

As in he knew there was a party, he confronted them, he then called the cops... ellisonz Mar 2012 #82

When someone breaks into your house it isn't "cold blood" JVS Mar 2012 #83

He had time to ask him what he was doing there... ellisonz Mar 2012 #84

Never knew someone who hid in a house though. nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #91

He hid in a covered porch. That's how the houses are built there... ellisonz Mar 2012 #95

Why can't you grasp what a covered ENCLOSED porch is? nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #99

What don't you understand about malice with forethought? n/t ellisonz Mar 2012 #106

Because this has nothing to do with this case. You want it to, but it does not. nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #107

The hell it doesn't. ellisonz Mar 2012 #108

The fact that he had a gun really burns you up doesn't it? Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #110

"The fact that he had a gun really burns you up doesn't it?" ellisonz Mar 2012 #131

Wait he had a father? Well that changes everything. Please post some more stories where homeowners Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #135

And from the abstract view, withhindsight and evidence krispos42 Mar 2012 #134

Negative. ellisonz Mar 2012 #137

"Judicial review" krispos42 Mar 2012 #149

He can get a public defender for free. ellisonz Mar 2012 #150

Sure, a public defender for free. krispos42 Mar 2012 #152

Mr. Morrison wasn't an angel... ellisonz Mar 2012 #153

Yeah I remember all the times I got drunk in high school...then ran from the cops, then broke into Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #52

Well I hope you never feel "threatened" enough... ellisonz Mar 2012 #59

So if you succesfully defend yourself (not have any harm come to you) it is murder? Kurska Mar 2012 #53

These are the facts. ellisonz Mar 2012 #61

This person broke into this house...why is this hard to understand? Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #65

Under a bullshit law. ellisonz Mar 2012 #67

You think you should have to run in your own house? Are you kidding me? Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #68

I think you have a duty to responsibly employ deadly force. ellisonz Mar 2012 #70

Al Sharpton's will read it and think to himself... Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #72

Actually Ed Schultz is already all over this case... ellisonz Mar 2012 #73

Castle law and stand your ground are two very different things...but you know that. Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #75

Your question should be "Did you ever break into someone's home while fleeing the cops?" JVS Mar 2012 #60

There's more to this story. ellisonz Mar 2012 #63

You want it to be the same, and it's really,really not. Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #69

Yeah it is... ellisonz Mar 2012 #76

I'm sad for his family, but his son should not have broken into a house...he wasn't stalked, he Joe the Revelator Mar 2012 #80

Exactly.. sendero Mar 2012 #109

If you don't like people who break into houses getting shot, Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #85

Do you haved any empathy for the dead young man? Comrade Grumpy Mar 2012 #128

I do have a kind of world-weary empathy for people who get themselves killed by doing stupid things. Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #129

Why not let a jury decide? treestar Mar 2012 #89

That might require the D.A. to bend over... ellisonz Mar 2012 #112

Then the homeowner would have some pretty high legal defense costs. kiva Mar 2012 #113

That's no reason not to charge someone with a crime they may well have committed treestar Mar 2012 #132

But that's the job of the DA's office, kiva Mar 2012 #151

That's how it works in the UK. Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #127

According to this, that doesn't seem to be the case Hippo_Tron Mar 2012 #156

What gets lost in this discussion... Comrade Grumpy Mar 2012 #123

One where we fear criminals dsc Mar 2012 #125

Listen to what the DA dude says on the video. It's not just Castle Doctrine. slackmaster Mar 2012 #136

Guns provide an illusion of safety. McCamy Taylor Mar 2012 #142

I prefer a pair of cybermen. nt Snake Alchemist Mar 2012 #159