Today’s post takes a look at a shooting in Alaska this past Thursday in which what had initially looked like a possibly credible case of self-defense instead turned into a chargesof first-degree murder after the purported defender fired one round too many. In further questionable decision-making, the defender also refused to drop his firearm when ordered to do so by police, getting himself shot as a result. Richard Sears, the Alaska man charged with …
Today’s post is about a Florida man who has been criminally charged for using a hand-held stun gun in claimed self-defense. The interesting facet of this case is the nature of the criminal charge: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Wait a minute, a stun gun as a deadly weapon? I’ve written from time to time about the possibility that weapons we typically consider non-deadly in nature, such as OC or pepper spray, may be …
Stun Gun Used Offensively Charged as Deadly Weapon Read More »
Today’s post is about South Carolina resident Antwain Moton, who successfully and lawfully defended his home against an intruder this past Sunday night. There are two facets of this case that are particularly notable. First, the remarkable degree to which Mr. Moton did it right. So many of the cases we cover at Law of Self Defense involve people who simply did it wrong that it’s a genuine pleasure when a defender’s conduct actually dots …
VIDEO: Home Defense, Done Right Read More »
Five years ago, on this exact date, Eric Garner died while violently resisting lawful arrest for a petty crime. Yesterday the Department of Justice announced that there would be no civil rights charges against the police officer most associated with that arrest (although numerous officers were involved). This perfectly reasonable decision by the DOJ—consistent with similar conclusions drawn by every other official review of this case, including that of a grand jury—has predictably led to …
VIDEO: “I Can’t Breath”: Eric Garner’s Death by Obesity, Morbidity, and Poor Judgment Read More »
Today’s post addresses California bill AB 392, a bill that addresses when police officers are justified in using deadly force, and which has been much in the press the last few months. The concern among many has been that AB 392 will strip away the ability of officers to rely on a reasonable perception of a threat, and require that the threat against which they defend themselves be actual. To illustrate, today an officer could …
Fake News: CA Changes Police Force Law Read More »
Today’s post focuses on a one-punch-one-kill confrontation in Florida in which a Mexican television star Pablo Lyle killed a 63-year-old Florida man with a single punch, according to local news reports. Lyle has subsequently been charged with manslaughter. The event took place March 31 but is back in the news now because Lyle has just been granted a self-defense immunity hearing, scheduled for August 22. My prediction is that immunity will be summarily denied for …
VIDEO: When Victim Becomes Aggressor Read More »
This post is just a quick one about the story breaking out of the Philadelphia area in which a father is said to have beat to death a carjacker who stole the father’s car with his children inside. As usual, the news reports appear to be missing the key legal issue here, so naturally I thought I’d add my two cents. So, the facts of the case appear pretty straightforward. Apparently, the children’s mother was …
Did Dad Kill Carjacker Unlawfully? Read More »
I often caution that a very common way that law-abiding armed citizens get into legal trouble is not so much that they don’t know self-defense law, but that so much of what they know is actually bad information. And where do they tend to get this bad information? Not from the gun controllers, but too often from the gun community itself. I came across a terrible example today of the gun community itself propagating …
When Gun Community Itself Spreads Bad Legal Info Read More »
Today’s post is about a defendant who brutally beat a victim outside of an Oklahoma bar, according to local news reports. This case is interesting in three respects: first, because it’s a case in which bare fists appear to qualify as deadly force, and; second, because it’s an example of a defendant demonstrating consciousness of guilt by tampering with evidence in a rather unusual way; and third, it’s a case that occurred at o-dark-thirty. The …
VIDEO: Fists as Deadly Weapon Read More »
Hey folks, In episode of calling the shots we covered several use-of-force cases recently in the news, including: CASE #1: A pregnant woman is in a fight with another woman, other woman shoots the pregnant woman, pregnant woman loses the baby as a result of the gunshot injury, pregnant woman is charged with manslaughter. CASE #2: A mob of 60 or so apparent “yutes” (minors) rampage through a Philadelphia-area drugstore. Thousands of dollars of property …
Calling the Shots: July 10, 2019 Read More »
