Bastrop chief reports resident kills burglar

[GreenStormCloud]

It has been a rough day for burglars and home invaders. DUer Commonsense has posted two cases of burglars who go shot by the resident. Here is a third.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Bastrop-chief-reports-resident-kills-burglar-1434954.phphttp://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Bastrop-chief-reports-resident-kills-burglar-1434954.php

BASTROP, La. (AP) — Bastrop Police are investigating the shooting death of a man who broke into a home.

SNIP

Black says a person broke into a home and was shot and killed by one of the residents.

The chief tells The News-Star the man who was shot has not been positively identified.

Black says Bastrop Police are investigating the shooting with assistance from Ouachita Parish sheriff's deputies. He said arrests in the incident are not likely.

[ileus]

1. Sometimes guns kill the right people...just another fluke I suppose.

Good on the home owner....k&r

[one-eyed fat man]

2. oh the humanity!!

How can you say that?

"The criminal was just a victim of certain economic pressures. He was turning his life around. He loved his momma."

Just a few more minutes and all the stalwart defenders of dead criminals will be reminding us how his life was worth more than mere property. They always castigate those who feel no sympathy for those innovative individuals who independently "redistribute wealth" without waiting for a government program.

We should just give them what they want.

[nichomachus]

3. As I was told by a cop years ago

If you ever, for any reason, shoot someone, drag the body into your house and tell the cops it was a burglar.

[GreenStormCloud]

4. NEVER, EVER, DO THAT. IT IS A FELONY.

Leave the body where it falls. If you rearrange the evidence, you are an ameateur at arranging it and the forensic guys are professionals at detecting tampered evidence. Once they detect that you are lying (And they will.) then they won't believe anything you say. Leave the evidence as it is.

Besides, the dead guy is going to have bled out and there will be bloody drag marks to show that you moved him.

Make a basic statement to the police, then take the 5th (politely) and ask for a lawyer.

[nichomachus]

5. I'm pretty sure shooting someone is a felony too.

And, as I don't have a gun -- despite being a wicked good shot -- the likelihood of my shooting someone is very very slim.

[spin]

6. Shooting someone in legitimate self defense is not a felony...

Ask a Lawyer

If you are charged with shooting another person, it would most likely be both a felony and a
crime of violence. If you believe you acted in self-defense, you would raise that at trial as an
affirmative defense. In most jurisdictions, if the judge finds you have established sufficient
evidence of self-defense, the prosecutor would be required to disprove self-defense to the jury
beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury would be instructed that if it does not conclude the prosecution
met its burden of disproving self-defense, it must acquit you. If that happens, you would not be
guilty of a felony. You would be found not guilty.

On the other hand, if the Judge
refused to instruct the jury on self-defense because he or she believed you hadn't presented
sufficient evidence of self-defense to make it a jury question, and you were convicted of the
shooting, it would be almost certainly be a felony conviction.
http://criminal.lawyers.com/ask-a-lawyer/What-Are-the-Consequences-of-Shooting-Someone-in-S...-7704.html?method=rss]

Self Defense and Florida's Stand Your Ground Law

he Florida legislature has recently enacted a law that permits you to stand your ground, anywhere, anytime, you are attacked. No longer must you take the risk of retreating from an attacker before protecting yourself. The protection given by the law is the highest protection, immunity from prosecution. No longer must you place your fate in the hands of the jury while pursuing the affirmative defense of self-defense. Your legal team can go proactive to prevent charges from being filed, or dismissed if they have been filed already. With proper legal representation you may be entitled to immunity from prosecution for any harm, even death, which you inflict as a result of your efforts to lawfully defend yourself. The procedure for obtaining dismissal of criminal charges is complex and uncertain. The law is in its infancy and the various courts are struggling with its application. A defendant who wants to rely upon the Stand Your Ground law must have an experienced, aggressive, legal team willing to fight through this uncertainty to obtain the result you deserve. At the Hessinger Law Firm, attorney's Tim Hessinger and Don Kilfin have a combined 29 years of experience battling complex cases in Florida's criminal court.

The new law codified in Florida Statutes 776.013(3)(2006) states:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity, and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

This new law expands upon Florida's preexisting castle doctrine and permits one to stand their ground anywhere. Florida Statutes 776.032(1) then holds in pertinent part:

A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force...
http://www.hessingerlaw.com/Articles/Self-Defense-and-Floridas-Stand-Your-Ground-Law.aspx