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Monday, April 30, 2012

Unstable Ground: The Fine Line Between Self-Defense and Murder

Daniel Adkins knew his son would never leave Lady. So when animal control officers showed up at the door with Daniel Jr.'s yellow lab in tow, "I felt like he was calling out to me for help."

Something was definitely wrong.

Adkins and his wife, Antonia, had searched the neighborhood just hours earlier, tracing their missing son's footsteps down two miles of dusty road to a cluster of strip malls. But they didn't make it as far as the Taco Bell. If they had, they would have come across the flashing police lights and the body of Daniel Jr., lying on the asphalt by the drive-thru window, with Lady by his side.

The next morning brought two police detectives bearing news that Daniel Jr., who was 29 but had the mental capacity of a 13-year-old, had been shot and killed. The shooter said he acted in self-defense. He has not been charged.

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1 comment:

  1. If people don't put themselves in a position where they are perceived as a threat, chances are they won't be shot.

    But if you act like a tough guy, act in a threatening manner, people will respond in kind. And I feel they have the right to.

    Why should you have to retreat when someone is being hostile towards you?

    That's the idea behind the stand your ground laws. We talk about taking our streets back from gangs and criminals and people who would do us harm, we make laws to allow them to do just that, and now everyone is wringing their hands second guessing the person who stands up for themself.

    Do you want to live in fear, do you want to walk down the street feeling safe?

    People make a conscience decision to act hostile to someone else. Why should you have to run away with your tail between your legs instead of defending yourself, a wife, a kid, your property?

    You make the aggressor the 'victim' when you flip-flop like that.

    If people behave themselves, and act civil towards others, most likely they won't be shot.

    Act the fool, and all bets are off. Break into my house, or just get in my personal space, if I feel the least threatened I will defend myself and mine. Up to and including lethal force.

    I didn't start the problem but I will do my best to finish it.

    I don't relish the thought of killing anybody but if it's me or them, 'them' better walk on by and leave me and others alone.

    I have never heard of anyone getting shot for respecting someone.

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