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Originally Posted by buildit
Well, under Ohio law as it was explained to me unless you are in imminent danger you're not justified to shoot or shoot at someone no matter what they might have done just moments before. The second you are NOT in danger the justification ends because you should be escaping. So even if the pickup had tried for the last hour to run him over or had even hit him, the moment he turned and chased the pickup he was in the wrong. I defer the true legal analysis to the professionals.  |
I think there is a lot of gray area in the law, even (espcially?) with the castle doctrine and it's extension to a vehicle.
In most any case of even a totally righteous self defense killing, the shooter can expect to be taken into custody by police pending a review of the case by the prosecutor and grand jury.
The defense you put forth, then, can make the difference between being charged and not. You would need to articulate in very specific terms what transpired to cause you to be in fear for your life; any attempts to reconcile the situation, call for help, or get away prior to the shooting; and even your post shooting actions - like calling for help, rendering first aid, etc. My advice in this regard if any of you should ever be in this position would be keep your mouth shut, make no statements of any sort to police, and immediately call a good attorney who deals with this sort of thing. Follow the advice of that attorney and let him issue any statements to the police on your behalf.
The real question, Luke, is whether you should carry your Glock chamber empty or not. Can you perhaps summarize the pros and cons of each style, in video format if possible?