New details in Summer Moody shooting; Alabama laws may bear similarities to Trayvon Martin case

Press-Register via Al.com ^ | April 16, 2012 | Connie Baggett, Press-Register

[rightly_dividing]

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A former Baldwin County High School standout volleyball player — shot on a remote Delta island at the scene of an alleged break-in gone wrong — was described by her mother Monday as struggling for life while her family waited for results from the latest CT scans.

Terri Lewis said she was hoping that the third test would show 17-year-old Summer Moody has a "fighting chance" at survival.

Moody was shot in the head at about 4 a.m. Sunday on Gravine Island in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.

Press-Register reporters on Monday observed what appeared to be blood and police evidence markings on a wooden private pier leading to one of two camps built on pilings on Gravine basin, carved out of Gravine Island’s heart.

(snip)

Incident shares similarities to Trayvon Martin case?

Attempts to obtain clarification of state law regarding self-defense from the Attorney General’s Office were not successful Monday. An email seeking comment from Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon was not answered late Monday.

The newspaper, however, contacted Conecuh County District Attorney Tommy Chapman, who referenced the Florida law that has become a focus of the controversial Trayvon Martin shooting in that state.

"Alabama’s law is not quite like Florida’s ‘stand your ground law’ but it is close," Chapman said.

He said that Alabama citizens have a right to use deadly force against an aggressor to protect themselves or their property, but such cases hinge on the actual circumstances. He said that Alabama’s law has potential for abuse.

"I just believe that life is precious," Chapman said, "and the taking of a life should never be done without great consideration as to the necessity."

[rightly_dividing]

This is a local story happening in South Alabama. It has about 100 comments on the column that get into the castle doctrine and arguments pro and con.

Read the article, and comments. I only posted parts of it.

It is not a national story because it does not offer the JJ and AL an opening to play.

[longtermmemmory]

so this was documented as an ACTUAL DIRECT home invasion and they are calling it similar?

Interesting, that would imply Martin was engaged in criminal conduct first...

[rightly_dividing]

I think an editor got carried away with sensationalism on the title. They are in a pinch to sell papers there.

[GladesGuru]

Ironic, in the extreme, that in such a lovely location four young local students decided to become thieves. If the girl dies, the three will face murder charges.

Such a pity those four wasted their lives because they just had to steal.

[livius]

Described as a “break-in gone wrong.” What exactly is a break-in gone right?

[bgill]

No, it's nothing like the Martin/Zimmerman thing. The mother, "All the negative things and innuendoes are not helpful. The main fact is there is a teenager fighting for her life. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances were that led us to this point. I’m sure it was not intentional, and was a huge accident that never should have happened, but it did.

Yes, it very much does matter what your daughter was up to that night. If they hadn't been trying to break into someone's house, this wouldn't have happened. What was a nice innocent girl doing out all night with three guys?

[Calvin Locke]

Carried away is right.

Is it unfortunate that what appears to be a passive participant in an alleged crime was the one that got shot? Absolutely.

Still, she was with the people that were in the alleged act of B&E.

[rightly_dividing]

Right, and at 4am Sunday, a camp house accessible only by boat. I wonder how many other camps were hit that night and it is not on the news. Many of these places are only visited occasionally and may not have been discovered burglarized yet.

[rightly_dividing]

I am old school, my kid would not be out that late. Heck, my wife and I are not out that late unless we are traveling.(I like to drive nights when we travel)

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

> “It doesn’t matter what the circumstances were that led us
> to this point.”

Yes, it most certainly does.

> “I’m sure it was not intentional, and was a huge accident
> that never should have happened, but it did.”

No, it was not an accident, and it only happened because there was a crime in process, and she was accessory to that crime. If she dies, then the other criminals are liable to be charged with her death as a homicide, though the man who actually shot her will likely not face that charge.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

“At some point in time,” Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack...”

The Sheriff needs to be advised that the expression “point in time” is a redundancy, like “knots per hour”.

Either “At some point...”, or “At some time...”, would have been acceptable.

[Pollster1]

Cute girl. It's a shame she was out burglarizing people's homes at 4 am. Whether she was entering the buildings or acting as lookout while her friends entered, she was part of a criminal enterprise. Some people are barely getting by. If you kick down their doors and steal their stuff, you are putting their lives in danger. I have a little sympathy for the girl, if she didn't understand, but Darwin is a harsh teacher. I wish her parents had done a better job raising this girl, so that she wouldn't have been there and been shot. She was shot in the back of the head? I'm just barely okay with that. If she was a lookout for the other three burglars and turned to shout a warning, it's hard to see the aspect change in the dark, particularly if she moves after the decision to shoot. The outcome is sad, just as the outcome is sad that a cute little boy like Trayvon grew up to be the kind of kid that has to be shot in self-defense, but once the kid makes those bad decisions, I won't fault the shooter (who may well feel pretty bad about this outcome).

[arthurus]

Hey, guys! I know where we can get (fill in the blank) real easy! There’s no one around there and it is far away from everything! No one will ever know!

[ArrogantBustard]

Described as a “break-in gone wrong.” What exactly is a break-in gone right?

A break-in gone right is one at the end of which ALL of the intruders have assumed room temperature, and none of the intended victims are injured.

[ArrogantBustard]

Hominid Bipeds are divided into two categories: "People" and "Targets".

If she decided, by her actions, to transfer herself into the category "Targets" ... her blood is on her own hands.

[ichabod1]

It’s like in this movie I saw the other day, Bad Company? And this kid sneaks up to a windowseal in a house and snatches a pie that’s sitting there to cool, and starts running away with it but it’s hot and he’s juggling it and going oh sh!t oh sh@t, and then suddenly a shot rings out and takes the top of his head off and he goes down in a heap and all the other dudes that are trying to steal chickens have to go running off so they din’t get they heads shot too.