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Homeowner Who Shot Unarmed Elderly Man With Alzheimer’s Wandering His Property Won’t Be Charged
Homeowner Who Shot Unarmed Elderly Man With Alzheimer’s Wandering His Property Won’t Be Charged
BY NICOLE FLATOW ON FEBRUARY 28, 2014 AT 3:28 PM
The Walker County, Ga., District Attorney said Friday he will not press charges against the homeowner who shot and killed an elderly man wandering on his property. 72-year-old Ronald Westbrook, who has Alzheimer’s disease, had been walking around the Chickamauga area, a rural neighborhood in north Georgia, when he walked onto Joe Hendrix’s property at around 2:30 a.m. Hendrix’s fiancée called 911 and a deputy was dispatched. But before he arrived, Hendrix took matters into his own hands, walking out the front door and firing three or four shots at Westbrook, one of which hit him in the chest.
snip
In an email to ThinkProgress, Franklin explained his decision not to charge Hendrix: “In interviews immediately after the shooting, Hendrix claimed he acted in self-defense. In Georgia, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving a self defense claim beyond a reasonable doubt. After looking at the facts from Hendrix’ perspective, it would be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hendrix did not reasonably act in self defense.”
He later confirmed that he was referring to particularly robust protections for homeowners known as the “Castle Doctrine,” which allows deadly force without a duty to retreat to protect the home.
Georgia is one of many states with aggressive provisions that permit deadly force in self-defense, both inside and outside the home. Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson told the Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn., that he expected the district attorney to consider Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law in deciding whether to press charges. “In my personal opinion, I believe that [Hendrix] should have stayed inside the house,” Wilson said. “Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No.”
BY NICOLE FLATOW ON FEBRUARY 28, 2014 AT 3:28 PM
The Walker County, Ga., District Attorney said Friday he will not press charges against the homeowner who shot and killed an elderly man wandering on his property. 72-year-old Ronald Westbrook, who has Alzheimer’s disease, had been walking around the Chickamauga area, a rural neighborhood in north Georgia, when he walked onto Joe Hendrix’s property at around 2:30 a.m. Hendrix’s fiancée called 911 and a deputy was dispatched. But before he arrived, Hendrix took matters into his own hands, walking out the front door and firing three or four shots at Westbrook, one of which hit him in the chest.
snip
In an email to ThinkProgress, Franklin explained his decision not to charge Hendrix: “In interviews immediately after the shooting, Hendrix claimed he acted in self-defense. In Georgia, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving a self defense claim beyond a reasonable doubt. After looking at the facts from Hendrix’ perspective, it would be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hendrix did not reasonably act in self defense.”
He later confirmed that he was referring to particularly robust protections for homeowners known as the “Castle Doctrine,” which allows deadly force without a duty to retreat to protect the home.
Georgia is one of many states with aggressive provisions that permit deadly force in self-defense, both inside and outside the home. Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson told the Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn., that he expected the district attorney to consider Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law in deciding whether to press charges. “In my personal opinion, I believe that [Hendrix] should have stayed inside the house,” Wilson said. “Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No.”
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/02/28/3347801/district-attorney-wont-charge-resident-shot-dead-elderly-man-alzheimers-property/
It seems that the NRA and their supporters have crafted laws which put the right to shoot someone above all other rights, shooting victims no longer have any rights because a gun toting killer can take every last one of their rights away in an instant and call it "self defense". No matter how absurd that claim of self defense is, their right to kill has been given priority over our right to life.
28 replies
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that previously only got to get their rocks off by blowing away stray cats and dogs that wander into their yards. Now they get to do it to stray humans. 
