Posted on 03/17/2016 7:25:32 AM PDT by Hojczyk
This case has a twist, though. When you read the details of the incident as recorded by the police, Johnson was climbing out of a window to flee the scene of the crime when Ms. Jenrette discovered him and she shot him in the yard, not inside of the house.
The wording of the Castle Doctrine seems to be a bit ambiguous here. Yes, there’s an assumption that the person who forcibly enters or intrudes into your home is there to kill you or cause great harm, but does that apply to your front yard? More to the point, will the state accept that the doctrine still applies when the perpetrator is not only outdoors but fleeing?
Johnson’s relatives are calling for retribution, of course, and it sounds like the courts may entertain their complaint. You may wonder why the focus is on the side of a person who was clearly in the process of committing a serious crime, but his family has an explanation. How else was he supposed to get any money?
Seemingly justifying her relative’s commission of burglary, Johnson’s cousin Nautika Harris suggested it was the only way through which he could obtain money.
“You have to understand, you have to look at it from a child’s point of view that was raised in the hood. How he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school?” asked Harris.
How Ms. Jenrette fares will tell us how far the homeowner’s rights extend in such a case and if Florida’s Castle Doctrine is strong enough as it stands. I’m all in favor of Stand Your Ground and the rights of property owners, as well as supporting the rights of crime victims and the law abiding.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
There’s no unfettered right to shoot someone on your property in most states, for example, by setting up a trap with a unmanned shotgun that goes off by a trip wire by a burglar.
Generally these laws depend on the citizen being in fear for his life and property. If you shoot a person running away in the back, it’s pretty hard to claim self-defense.
But juries have a way of interposing themselves into disputes of this kind between a state prosecutor and the defense, assuming the defense attorney pushes the right buttons to get the desired verdict.
You make a great point. My dad, God rest his soul, taught me to examine the media at a young age. Forty+ years later, that lesson is still pertinent.
But in our South Carolina CCW class, taught by a county sheriff deputy, if they are trying to run away and you shoot them it is murder/man slaughter. Just as provoking or ramping up a confrontation and then claiming self defense, it doesn't fall in the guidelines and you will be charged.
This is the exception to the castle doctrine in SC.
He was unarmed. The family claims he didn’t steal anything but the police won’t confirm that.
He was unarmed. The family claims he didn’t steal anything but the police won’t confirm that.
As God is my witness, the first two times that I read this, I thought it said "Trevon had goats..." and all I could think of was "What do goats have to do with it?"
Lots of stories either way. Have to wait until all evidence is in. IMHO the kid wasn’t a danger.
Both. Perhaps I rambled a bit. ;-)
Is the shooter the same race as the one who is no longer with us?
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