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Two killings test right of self-defense
The Baltimore Sun ^ | April 8, 2006 | Jennifer McMenamin

Posted on 04/10/2006 9:11:53 AM PDT by neverdem

Each case may turn on whether life was in danger

Karen L. Foxx had sought court orders to keep her estranged husband away, had filed criminal assault charges against him and changed her phone number. She also bought a gun to protect herself, and last Saturday, her lawyer says, Foxx did just that when she fatally shot her husband.

Now the Randallstown woman awaits word on whether she will be charged with a crime - one of two recent cases in which the legal right to self-defense is under examination.

The Randallstown shooting occurred two weeks after a 57-year-old gas station owner was attacked by three would-be robbers at the upscale Village of Cross Keys shopping center in North Baltimore, grabbed his own gun and fatally shot one of the assailants.

In such cases, the decision to file charges often hangs on whether prosecutors or grand jurors determine that the shooters reasonably believed that their lives were threatened before pulling the trigger, legal experts interviewed this week said.

In a 2001 case involving two brothers who killed a man after lying in wait for burglars, a Baltimore County grand jury decided the shooting was justified, even though the intruders were unarmed.

In a 2003 case, two businessmen were acquitted of murder charges after shooting a man who broke into their East Baltimore warehouse.

Given the police accounts of the two recent shootings, the experts interviewed say it's unlikely that either Foxx or the gas station owner, Mark A. Beckwith, will be charged.

"I don't think a crime has occurred. I don't think it's even close," said Richard M. Karceski, a criminal defense attorney who represented one of two brothers cleared in the 2001 shooting of three unarmed intruders at the brothers' concrete plant in Glyndon. "Just because an unfortunate situation..."

(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: banglist; donutwatch; libertarians
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To: Naptowne
I am a native of Maryland. I spent many years living and working in that DemocRAT controlled socialist hellhole. I finally had enough.

So you've got a 'pubbie guv'nor. Bully for you. You've also got a totally DemocRAT controlled statehouse, you have Barbara Mikulksi, Paul Sarbanes, Steny Hoyer, Chris Van Hollen, Elijah Cummings ... In fact, six of your eight Representatives are socialist DemocRATs, and Wayne Gilchrest is a squishy Republicrat. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. You have Baltimore City, Land of the Voting Dead. You have Prince George's County, largely indistinguishable from the District of Columbia. You have Montgomery County, AKA "Berkeley East". You have "Won't Issue, but Will Laugh in your Face" Concealed Carry. You have an "assault weapons" ban. You have County Income Tax. Gee ... all these things I miss soooo much.

Oh, yes. I literally thank God that the Washington Nationals did NOT move to Virginia. I dodged that bullet twice.

I'll insult Maryland any bloody time I please, and twice on Sundays. I did my time; I EARNED that right.

21 posted on 04/10/2006 10:49:20 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Naptowne

OBTW, say "hi" to Parris 'The Duck' $pendenning for me, willya? He quit talking to me ... musta been those hard questions about his rampaging liberalism.


22 posted on 04/10/2006 10:51:14 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: neverdem
You mean to tell me this is even being discussed?

Perhaps the liberals would feel better if that woman and the shop owner were dead.

Yeah, how dare they defend themselves. Unreal.

23 posted on 04/10/2006 10:56:48 AM PDT by Houmatt (Cindy Sheehan: Too busy to get her son a gravestone?)
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To: Naptowne; ArrogantBustard

Hey, Nappie. You took on the wrong FReeper. Arrogant didn't get that way by being wrong.


24 posted on 04/10/2006 1:58:27 PM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: JudyB1938

Get what way...ignorant. Unlike some people I don't blame my own personal shortcomings on the government. His posts just demonstrate that he is not worth arguing. The median price of a house in my neighborhood is 7 figures. I would hardly call it a sewer. Secondly our economy is crushing Virginia's economy and about every other state's economy as well. If you want to judge my state by what happens in Baltimore, then I will judge Virginia by what happens in Richmond. Richmond is a sewer that has a higher rate of violent crime than almost any other city in the country. I also point out that Northern VA is as liberal as it gets. Hampton certainly isn't any place I would like to raise a family. We may pay obscene tax rates, but it least we have a vibrant economy that attracts businesses from all over the country. Plus we have more entertaining past times than watching grass grow and tractor pulls.


25 posted on 04/10/2006 2:13:13 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: JudyB1938

By the way, thanks for Bill Clinton.


26 posted on 04/10/2006 2:13:46 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: ArrogantBustard

I wasn't bragging about having a Republican governor. I learned long ago that the people who run the major political parties in this country have more in common with one another than they do with the American people; e.g. illegal immigration debate.


27 posted on 04/10/2006 2:16:03 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: Naptowne
I seriously doubt these people will be charged unless there is strong evidence to suggest that it was not self defense.

Self-defense, indeed, as a legal defense may not apply unless there is convincing evidence that lethal force was unavoidable and necessary.

This is true for both criminal and civil actions - the latter being, for instance, lawsuits brought for wrongful death by relatives of the deceased.

Otherwise, you can have a hypothetical case where someone, intending to commit homicide, baits someone with premediation into an action that sets up a supposedly "self-defense" scenario that is really a set-up for murder.

28 posted on 04/10/2006 2:29:22 PM PDT by mtntop3 ("He who must know before he believes will never come to full knowledge.")
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To: Naptowne
1) It's generally considered polite to include someone's name in the "To:" field, if you're going to talk about him. Just type it in, separate them with semi-colons. You get a pass this time, because you're new.

2) If you weren't bragging about the R governor, why mention him? Like it or not, the political climate in Maryland is totally dominated by the MontCo-PG-Baltimore Axis of Evil.

3) You think your neighbourhood is typical? Get a grip. There are neighbourhoods in DC, and in lowly, depressed, almost third-world Virginia that are also 7-figure median house value. BFD. DC is a hellhole, too.

4) Richmond is a sewer. So is Hampton, and much of Norfolk. In fact, most big cities are sewers. Like, for example, Baltimore. That's why I don't live in one.

5) I note that you make no effort to refute any of my points about Maryland. That's good. They're true. I had enough; more than enough. I left. I'm not deluded about Maryland.

29 posted on 04/10/2006 2:34:32 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Naptowne

It seems that you like picking fights. Since you just signed up, I am ready to believe you are a troll. Go back to DU where you belong.


30 posted on 04/10/2006 2:34:51 PM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: JudyB1938; Naptowne
He can't be a troll; he lives in a multi-million dollar neighbourhood. That makes Maryland a paradise. Or something.
31 posted on 04/10/2006 2:39:42 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

What he failed to mention is that he lives under the porch of one of those fancy dandy houses that we are supposed to be impressed with.


32 posted on 04/10/2006 2:43:01 PM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: Naptowne

I forgot to tag you.


33 posted on 04/10/2006 2:44:19 PM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: JudyB1938
Now, now ... we're not supposed to make personal attacks on this forum. We wouldn't want to get the mods mad at us. ;'}
34 posted on 04/10/2006 2:46:12 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

LOL I don't think the mods would get mad at me for calling a troll a troll. Maybe I should have just called him a newbie. ha

I normally don't get drawn into junk like this, but that guy made ME mad. Attacking one of my favorite posters just doesn't cut it as far as I am concerned.


35 posted on 04/10/2006 2:51:09 PM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: JudyB1938; ArrogantBustard; Naptowne

Nah, he's probably just a noobie. And FReepers stick to their guns, generally. I picked fights on my first few days here. Some quickly learned humility later, I fit in.

If he does anything trollish, then there'll be ozone. However, for the time being, I'll extend a cautious welcome.

So, welcome to Free Republic, Naptowne. Develop a thick skin, and prepare to do constant verbal battle. En garde!


36 posted on 04/10/2006 3:49:31 PM PDT by Alexander Rubin (Octavius - You make my heart glad building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Naptowne

you've been here one day and already no one likes you.

Maybe that's a sign.


37 posted on 04/10/2006 4:06:19 PM PDT by flashbunny
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To: ArrogantBustard

and he has a major league sports franchise in his area. That makes him special!!!


38 posted on 04/10/2006 4:07:23 PM PDT by flashbunny
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To: flashbunny

Hey, we have the Savannah Sand Gnats.....but we don't have any cheers for them because ain't nobody down here in Savannah-town that likes these damned gnats!! They get in your nose and eyes and are most bothersome...wish we could send them all up North and bother them Yankees.


39 posted on 04/10/2006 4:37:24 PM PDT by geezerwheezer (get up boys, we're burnin' daylight!!!)
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To: freepatriot32; albertp; Allosaurs_r_us; Abram; Americanwolfsbrother; AlexandriaDuke; ...
"In a 2001 case involving two brothers who killed a man after lying in wait for burglars, a Baltimore County grand jury decided the shooting was justified, even though the intruders were unarmed."


I don't know why the media always speculates so.. this article is filled with this 'hedging' type language.





Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
40 posted on 04/10/2006 5:38:34 PM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/israel_palestine_conflict.htm)
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