Gun Control & RKBA
Related: About this forumJury Rejects Self-Defense in Porch Shooting Death
A suburban Detroit man who said he fatally shot an unarmed woman on his porch out of fear prompted by early morning pounding on his doors faces up to life in prison after jurors rejected his claim of self-defense.
Theodore Wafer was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder after a nine-day trial that centered on whether the 55-year-old had a reasonable and honest belief that his safety was in peril.
"I don't know why this was brought to me," Wafer testified this week. "I didn't go out looking for this."
No one knows why Renisha McBride ended up at Wafer's Dearborn Heights home about 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, though prosecutors speculated the 19-year-old may have been seeking help. She had been out with a friend hours earlier before crashing her car in Detroit around 1 a.m. and an autopsy found she was extremely drunk.
Wafer opened the front door and shot McBride in the face, firing through a screen door while she stood on the other side. He first suggested to police that it was an accident but later admitted to intentionally pulling the trigger.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/detroit-area-porch-shooter-convicted-murder-24887014
Loudly
(2,436 posts)doxydad
(1,363 posts)You know, it's Florida...so...you got that.
ileus
(15,396 posts)blueridge3210
(1,401 posts)that "stand your ground" and "castle doctrine" laws were automatic "get out of jail free" cards. That all one had to do was utter the magic words "I wuz skeered" and the police could not arrest and no charges could ever be filed. Seems someone was wrong. Go figure.
Sound verdict; no valid self-defense claim.
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,479 posts)blueridge3210
(1,401 posts)Was I bad?
discntnt_irny_srcsm
(18,479 posts)intaglio
(8,170 posts)but the castle doctrine (the law in this case) is not. You have to demonstrate that your point of maximum reasonable retreat is about to be violated before you can claim justification under castle doctrine; your home is always such a point. This gun humper could not show any attempt at violation of his "castle" (despite the best efforts of his defence counsel) so he was found guilty.
blueridge3210
(1,401 posts)You have some date to back that up? From what I've seen, "stand your ground" has been successfully used by both white and black persons; generally in proportion to their respective percentage of the population.
Gothmog
(145,321 posts)Being stupid is no excuse here