Posted on 06/16/2012 11:20:16 AM PDT by marktwain
A prominent West Virginia attorney faces serious charges for shooting an apparent homeless veteran he says was staying on his property.
Ex-West Virginia attorney general candidate Hiram Lewis is wielding the state's so-called "Castle Doctrine" defense for shooting the man who claimed he was the lawyer's roommate, the ABA Journal reported Thursday.
That law like the controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws justifies the use of violent force against home invaders.
Lewis claims that the man, Stephen Bogart, wasn't really his roommate but was a homeless veteran he allowed to stay on his property for a week.
But then the veteran tried to break into his home, Lewis said.
"I was totally within my rights. I was in my home when I made the, when I shot him, after he barged in my residence and busted the door down," Lewis told WDTV. "It's in God's hands now, but we are a Castle Doctrine State."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Hope he doesn’t represent himself. If he does, he’ll have a fool for a client.
If all is as reads on the surface he should still win — it sounds like a screaming liberal prosecutor stretching the law. But there are advantages to a mouthpiece: better objectivity, and the ability to theorize to the court about what “might” have gone down.
...denny crane...
I can’t decide whether their insistence on calling this violent, home invading hobo a ‘veteran’ is an attempt to garner sympathy for this criminal or whether it is an attempt to associate the word with mentally-unstable, violent criminality, anyone care to take a guess?
Well, as a Christian, Conservative ,30 year married to the same fine lady, former military, retired business owner, gun owning white guy , who has never even gotten a parking ticket is labeled a possible subversive by this president and his crazy out of control TSA???
Kindness in West Virginia.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.