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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: ArrogantBustard

Good enough. I will make a note to not discuss someone unless I include their name in the post. I mentioned Ehrilich because I thought you implied that everyone in the state is a hardcore democrat. I have believed that there is wide-spread voter fraud in Baltimore in PG county that allows Dems to usually win here. The fact that you are a native does give you a right to bash the state, I suppose. I thought you were a VA native and I think you know how the cross-border rivalry goes. I also think you were being dishonest or by suggesting the entire state is a dump, unless you spent all of your time here in one of the bad areas. I think most of the state is very nice excluding most of Baltimore City, some of Baltimnore county, and about half of PG county. You are certainly right about the taxes. My neighborhood may not be typical in values, but I feel it is typical of most of the state in the fact that it is relatively safe, clean, and comprised of hard-working, good people. I do have family in VA and think its a nice state. My only point is that it is unfair to take a bad area and apply it to an entire state. Michigan for example is a beautiful state, but Detroit is not so beautiful. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience here, but maybe in the future you should not paint an entire state with such a broad brush. If you had said Randallstown is a sewer this discussion would not have taken place.


41 posted on 04/10/2006 7:28:02 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: flashbunny
I'm not necessarily here to have people like me. I think I have every right to take issue with someone calling my home a cesspool.
42 posted on 04/10/2006 7:29:49 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: JudyB1938; ArrogantBustard

I was not picking fights. I was defending my home. I would think you would do the same if somebody did the same about your home. Your home state is like a family or group of friends. It is okay for someone inside the group to talk about someone inside the group, but when an outsider does it you immediately defend the group. No one needs to tell me about the problems we have here, but I did not realize the other poster was from here so I took issue with his comments.


43 posted on 04/10/2006 7:34:20 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: Naptowne

May Issue.
'Nough said.


44 posted on 04/10/2006 7:38:01 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5 (Vote a Straight Republican Ballot. Rid the country of dems. NRA)
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To: JudyB1938

Actually I just live in the least expensive house in my neighborhood, although it is still not a cheap house. And I was not trying to impress or brag to a bunch of people I will most likely never meet. I was just pointing out that there a lot of nice areas in the state, including were I live. I certainly did not intend to come across as an elitist braggart who thinks the value of one's home has anything to do with one's character or worth ans a person. I offer you an apology for getting off on the wrong foot with one an another.


45 posted on 04/10/2006 7:40:32 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: Alexander Rubin

Thank you for the welcome. I can take it as well as I dish it out.


46 posted on 04/10/2006 7:41:57 PM PDT by Naptowne
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To: Naptowne

My initial comment was more political than social.

Outside the Axis of Evil, MD is pretty nice. Heck, that's even true of NJ, NY, and California.


47 posted on 04/10/2006 7:52:50 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Naptowne

Please accept my apology as well. Often, remarks are taken unkindly when none is meant.


48 posted on 04/11/2006 8:19:34 AM PDT by JudyB1938 (Jesus is the One)
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To: Naptowne

then move to someplace that isn't one.


49 posted on 04/11/2006 12:58:30 PM PDT by flashbunny
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