Judge aquits two men who shot intruder

The Baltimore Sun Website ^ | January 24, 2003 | Allison Klein

[Ranxerox]

Arguing that the state's murder case "challenged the foundation of the right to defend yourself," two Harford County businessmen were acquitted yesterday of gunning down a drug addict who broke into their East Baltimore warehouse.

Prosecutors said the men, frustrated by repeated burglaries at their business, were acting with murder in mind, not self-defense, when they killed Tygon Walker with a shotgun and a handgun in June 2001. But Baltimore Circuit Judge John M. Glynn pronounced Kenny Der and Darrell R. Kifer not guilty of first-degree murder seconds after attorneys finished their closing arguments.

[Mr_Magoo]

If the Judge does not have a problem with the perp being shot 11 times . . .

Who am I to argue.

[RonF]

I grant your point. If this guy took all these shots in the chest/limbs, I wouldn't be having this conversation. But 5 shots in the back still sounds a little extreme to me. I'd like to know more before making a judgement either way, but it raises a question.

[RonF]

"If the Judge does not have a problem with the perp being shot 11 times . . .

Who am I to argue."

I hadn't noticed that FR'ers are reticent to argue with the decisions of judges before this.

[RonF]

"Personally, I carry 25 rounds of hard hitting .45 hollowpoints. Do you think that is a bit excessive?"

If you put them all in one guy, yeah. If you're facing a street gang, no.

[AnAmericanMother]

But 5 shots in the back still sounds a little extreme to me. I'd like to know more before making a judgement either way, but it raises a question.

If you're really interested in knowing exactly what happened, look up the testimony of the medical examiner. That will tell you the path of the bullets.

Without seeing the testimony, my bet is that these guys achieved their target and, as I said, just kept pulling the trigger until it went "click", while following their target as most are trained to do. They would hold their sight picture as the guy collapsed, and the last few bullets would probably go into the back of the head and the back as the goblin hit the floor.

Alternatively, if the man spun as he was hit (and a near-winger in either shoulder would spin him), the next round or two would graze his back or maybe even penetrate.

And yes, I've read a lot of physician and ME reports from shootings. Sadly, that is one of the less appetizing parts of my job.

And since our judgments don't matter, I think we're free to speculate as much as we like. This isn't a court of law.

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

There should be a law passed that makes the right to sue void if you are suing in behalf of something that happened to you while committing a violent crime or breaking and entering.