Tough to shoot someone with just bullets.
Posted on 10/01/2006 9:28:04 PM PDT by baldeagle390
MILWAUKEE -- A Janesville man who admitted breaking into a home is suing the homeowner who shot him.
Kurt Prochaska, 39, was on probation last fall when he admitted he broke in to a home and was shot by the homeowner, but that's not stopping him from going after cash through the courts.
Late last year, the Rainiero family awoke to find Prochaska in their home. Michael Rainiero, a doctor, ordered Prochaska to leave. He didn't and was shot in the back.
Nearly a year later, Rainiero's attorney said it's far from over because Prochaska is suing him from beind bars, saying the doctor didn't need to shoot him.
"What the doctor wants is this whole ordeal to be ended and done with," Rainiero's attorney said.
The Milwaukee County suit claims Rainiero used excessive force to deal with the intruding plaintiff and alleges severe and permanent injuries, relentless pain, and loss of earning capacity. The suit doesn't specify a damage amount.
Rainiero claims he shot Prochaska in self-defense.
"The doctor was asleep in his bed when an intruder came into his home and put his life, his wife's life, and his two kids' lives in jeopardy," Rainiero's lawyer said.
The lawyer added that Rainiero showed restraint, not excessive force, in dealing with Prochaska. Although, he had an entire magazine of bullets, Rainiero fired only once.
The Rock County district attorney agreed, long ago ruling the shooting was justified. Still, Prochaska is able to move ahead with the suit.
"Judges like to give everyone their day in court. No matter how absurd it might seem, this gentleman has a right to have a day in court. And so, my job is to make sure that that day in court is a very short day in court," Rainiero's attorney told 12 News reporter Nick Bohr.
A hearing on the suit is set for next month. Prochaska's attorney did not wish to comment on the case.
If the case is thrown out, Prochaska can be forced to pay up to $500 of the legal expenses.
Ping!!!
I worked with a guy some years ago, who caught a burglar in his house at 3 am. He worked him over, after being assaulted with a 2 x 4 and then called the cops. The perp sued and was given $30,000 by my coworker's home owner's insurance company which then dropped him. They figured it would be chaper to pay the scum off than go in front of a civil jury.
"I just learned a lesson. Empty the clip."
Exactly the same lesson the MSM have taught out military. Don't bring back captured, leave corpses.
Tough to shoot someone with just bullets.
Was he holding an M1?
We don't have a "justice" system, we have a legal system. And yes, it is screwed!
This is why you use a shotgun and shoot to kill if someone breaks into your house.
Kurt E. Prochaska, a Janesville man tore an exhaust fan off the roof of Dr Michael Rainiero's home.
"Both the homeowner and Prochaska are at opposite ends of the hallway. The homeowner verbally challenges him, tells him to leave, to get out," Davis [Lt. Danny Davis, head of Janesville police detectives.] said.
This morning, investigators still had not talked with Prochaska, but Davis said Rainiero told officers that after ordering Prochaska out of the house, Prochaska stepped into a bathroom off the hallway.
"That's when the homeowner retreated to the bedroom and got his gun," Davis said.
Rainiero told police he loaded the .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol that he keeps in his bedroom and cocked a shell into the chamber, Davis said.
"When the homeowner stepped back into the hallway with his firearm, Prochaska emerged from the bathroom and was now back in the hallway," Davis said.
Rainiero told police he verbally challenged the intruder again, Davis said.
"When Prochaska did not respond to the homeowner's request to leave, the homeowner shot him," Davis said.
Wisconsin law doesn't allow people to use deadly force to defend property, and offers Dr Rainiero no protection from a civil lawsuit.
A man, Dr. Michael Rainiero, with his wife and three daughters in the house, hears a crashing sound in his home in the middle of the night and goes to investigate and finds a man, Kurt Prochaska, in the hall of his home. He yells several times to “get out.” He was loud enough that neighbors hear him yelling at the slug to get out of his home. The slug refuses to leave and just stands there.
The home owner goes back into his bedroom to get his gun and comes back into the hall, where he continued to yell at the burglar to get out as he unlocked and loaded his gun, the man still refused to leave, and fearing that the man would get into the dark and become more dangerous, he fired one shot at the man. The bullet hit the scum and did damage to his spinal cord.
Within three days, this thug’s wife, Julie Prochaska (who is obviously a real winner herself), told police that the doctor had no right to shoot her husband, and they were going to sue the homeowner. Yesterday, they filed suit against Dr. Rainiero in Milwaukee, not in Rock County where this happened. He is obviously hoping that he can get a more sympathetic jury in Milwaukee (wonder why he didn’t use Dane County?).
Rock County District Attorney, David O’Leary refused to file charges “because the doctor had acted in self-defense.”
http://tinyurl.com/s5bmd
I was at the range today, and saw for the first time ever the size of hole that a shotgun slug leaves in a sheet of paper. Most impressive. I've got an 870 full of 00 buck, but I might have to put a couple of slugs in the bottom of the magazine.
-ccm
A shotgun is an excellent home defense weapon. You can usually get a perps attention with the sound of a slide jacking a shell into the pipe.
Ditto that. The same goes for "...he had an entire magazine of bullets."
It's amazing that so few people havn't a clue. You would think that they would wionder about the pesky casing, primer and gunpowder.
"Where do they find these people?"
Quite often, the criminal or the criminal's family will try to sue the intended victime. It does seem that when the criminal fails, in the attempt to steal the victim's money by burlary/home invasion, they hire a shyster lawyer to steal the money using the court system.
Obviously a man that knows what a Garand is!
LOL. I said the same thing.
Dead men tell not tales....in court.
There. Fixed the reporting
"...You can usually get a perp's attention with the sound of a slide jacking a shell into the pipe..."
Racking the slide to "frighten" a criminal is an urban legend and is amateurish firearm handling. If one doesn't store the shotgun with a round already chambered, it should be quietly loaded without providing additional warning to the criminal. One can choose to "challenge" the criminal if desired, or they can wisely shoot them where they stand. A person who enters a home via the roof or window in the middle of the night isn't visiting to have tea and butterscotch krimpets.
Research on this topic will quickly show you that respected firearms experts universally recommend against the "Hollywood" technique of loudly racking the slide in the presence of the criminal.
~ Blue Jays ~
You are going to be arrested if you shoot somebody, even if the guy is toting a machine gun. No matter what you say, you will be arrested. So, you tell the police that you intend to cooperate but won't discuss what happened until you've spoken to your attorney. Your attorney helps you craft a statement which satisfies the police/DA's needs but which doesn't give the perp's attorney anything to use against you.
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.