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October 13, 2005

Have Gun, Will Shoot

Two concurrent stories on our local ABC affiliate seem to cancel one another out. A home invasion ring cracked...

Five people - including three teenagers - are facing charges after a pair of robberies in Okaloosa County.
Timothy Whitaker and Jaymie Greek, both aged 16. . . 14-year-old Kace Zuidhoek. . 20-year-old Dean Huffer. . And 23-year-old Juan Alvarez, whose photo was not available. . Are all charged with Home Invasion Robbery. .
Whitaker and Greek are also accused of using an airgun and knife to injure one of the victims. The Sheriff's Department says more arrests are possible.

...followed by a seeming attempt to stir up controversy.

The shooting death of a burglar by an Escambia County homeowner has renewed debate about the legal use of a deadly force to protect your home.

...Police say the homeowner, 57-year old Robert Peaden, was working in his trailer when he was confronted by the suspect, 44-year old Richard Piovesan. The caller to 9-11 said a burglar was trying to break into a trailer on his property. When deputies arrived they found a man shot in the chest.

Piovesan was taken to Sacred heart hospital where he was pronounced dead.


I don't see a problem. I'll bet the first group of victims wish they'd been armed. And people seem to forget it's NOT a license to kill ~ that just because you can shoot someone threatening you in your home or on the sidewalk it DOESN'T mean the police don't investigate anymore. They'll climb all over you and the scene even more thoroughly. God help you if you thought you could get away with murder.

Posted by tree hugging sister at October 13, 2005 06:14 PM

Comments

I've walked away from more than a few confrontations before they could escalate to something serious and I'm glad I could. Nearly always it's just not worth it. If someone ever forces his way into my house though, he's very likely to meet his maker that day. Just to be clear, if someone broke into my garage I'd call the cops and let them deal with it. It's just property and it's not worth even a scumbag burglar's life. If he invades my home though, my only hesitation would be that shotguns are so damn messy.

Posted by: Dave E at October 14, 2005 11:27 AM

We have a small, upstairs condo - the garage is detached and away and I can't even tell what's going on down there. If someone came busting in up here there would be precious few seconds to respond and I would be totally compelled to resist with as much massive, overwhelming force as I could bring to bear - and if that turned out to be deadly then so be it.

Posted by: -keith in mtn. view at October 14, 2005 11:43 AM

Just make sure if you use deadly force, it's deadly. One less person to sue. You'd probably still face a wrongful death lawsuit even if you were cleared of criminal charges.

Bastard civil law system.

Posted by: Cullen at October 14, 2005 01:34 PM