Maybe he thought the whole thing was as absurd as the rest of us. Who would have thought you could lose your house to criminals based on the fact that you impeded their criminal activity?
If I hit a bank robber with a bat while he is leaving the bank, can he take my house?
There have been cases where the unjustified use of force against a criminal, while in the commission of a crime, has resulted in both criminal and civil (money) liability against the person employing such force.
"If I hit a bank robber with a bat while he is leaving the bank, can he take my house?"
There are laws regarding (a) citizen's arrest and (b) application of deadly force. Nethercott managed to raise the question of whether he had violated those laws.
Nethercott's behavior was typical of a federal "confidential informant" (i.e., tame criminal who is looking to reduce his sentence by helping entrap others).
First, he joined a group that engaged in armed patrols--despite being a convicted felon who was (and is) not allowed to carry a weapon.
Second, he proceeded to act like a total nutcase.
He got Ranch Rescue into a ton of legal trouble--and the feds said, "mission accomplished."
Actually yes. I seem to remeber a case in NY I think, where a taxi driver pinned a would be robber to a wall with his taxi, breaking the thiefs legs, the thief sued and got a whopper of a judgement. Also a couple years ago in WA State, a man who was burglarizing houses was caught in the act by a K-9 Unit. The guy tried to run, the cop told him to stop. The guy continued to run so the cop released the dog. The dog bit off part of the guys foot, he sued Snohomish Co. and won $450,000.00.