my wife was on a self-defense case jury

[Elkins45]

One wonders if the whole mess couldn't have been avoided had the gentleman simply said "Oh, excuse me sir" rather than "Watch where you are going".

One of the best strategies for surviving a conflict is by avoiding it in the first place. Just saying...

 

[316SS]

One wonders if the whole mess couldn't have been avoided had the gentleman simply said "Oh, excuse me sir" rather than "Watch where you are going".

That was my first thought as I read the details of the incident. 5 years and $100K in fees is a high price compared to swallowing your pride and biting your tongue. Momma was right when she taught you "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

 

[leadcounsel]

One wonders if the whole mess couldn't have been avoided had the gentleman simply said "Oh, excuse me sir" rather than "Watch where you are going".

One of the best strategies for surviving a conflict is by avoiding it in the first place. Just saying...

+1. I have gotten much more humble in my years...

Lots of tuff guys out there with a lot to prove. Sure this Reyes punk is dead, but Eagleton's life has been ruined with the stress, cost, and life altering events for the last 5 years.

I'm a military defense attorney. In the military, the prosecutor needs just 2/3rds to vote to convict. Those are not very good odds, particularly in a pro-discipline organization, where the Commanding General is the one pursuing the charges.

However, in a civilian case where it requires unanimous vote of guilt to convict, I suspect if you do a few smart things you'd be able to win on self defense - make sure you vocalize your fear, shout commands, and only shoot if you legitimately fear for your life - that means don't shoot at him if he's retreating.

I also bet that had this guy been smarter about his statements it may have played out differently.

The statements YOU make during and immediately after an incident are critically important. You should never admit any guilt or uncertainty, or say "I'm sorry." Things that help you especially on the 911 tapes are,

"He attacked me and I feared for my life."
"I want to press charges against him for assault."
"I defended myself from his attack with a knife."
"I warned him repeatedly to put down the knife and back off."
Etc. etc. etc.
"I want to talk to my lawyer."

Don't have $10,000 or $20,000 handy immediately to get a lawyer...

This also reminds me that the $80 I spend every year for lawyer insurance is a great investment...

http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/

 

[CoRoMo]

A couple things...

...Eagleton held up his forearm and said "Watch where you are going"...

• We are not reading the above quote from a court transcript. This might not be the verbatim record. Eagleton might have murmured something like "Look out" in no more than a whisper, under his breath. We are only reading what the OP's wife typed and there could be a healthy variance in the exact wordage. For all we know, his exact words might have been, "Watch out friend", "Watch where you're going buddy", or "Look where you're going please". Not knowing the tone or the exact language used, we can't be certain that his part of the exchange was anything less than gentile and cordial.
• Even if Eagleton lifted an arm and said those exact five words, I don't see this part of the encounter as necessarily abrasive, confrontational, rude, etc. Sure, if we insert a tone or a facial expression to the imagery in our mind when we picture that moment, we can create an impolite Eagleton, but we would be projecting that. Eagleton could have been saying it with a smile on his face and compassion in his eyes.

Just my thoughts.

 

[JTHunter]

David Gay said:

Raising an arm after bumping into someone, or something, is not aggressive, it is purely a simple, reflexive, defense mechanism.

Ditto!

 

[316SS]

We are not reading the above quote from a court transcript. This might not be the verbatim record. Eagleton might have murmured something like "Look out" in no more than a whisper, under his breath. We are only reading what the OP's wife typed and there could be a healthy variance in the exact wordage. For all we know, his exact words might have been, "Watch out friend", "Watch where you're going buddy", or "Look where you're going please". Not knowing the tone or the exact language used, we can't be certain that his part of the exchange was anything less than gentile and cordial.
Even if Eagleton lifted an arm and said those exact five words, I don't see this part of the encounter as necessarily abrasive, confrontational, rude, etc. Sure, if we insert a tone or a facial expression to the imagery in our mind when we picture that moment, we can create an impolite Eagleton, but we would be projecting that. Eagleton could have been saying it with a smile on his face and compassion in his eyes.

Good points. It seems unlikely that the first interaction was cordial since it was followed by an attack, but unprovoked attacks do happen. That said, if Eagleton could have done anything differently to avoid the confrontation, I bet he wishes he had.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

There was the story just a coupla years ago about the guy defending himself against a militant woman and later her boyfriend right in front of his house. It took years and over $100k to get declared not guilty. I think Mas Ayoob was a defense witness.

It's that kind of expense that shakes me so bad. Thank goodness Texas disallows civil suits.

Case you are mentioning happened in AZ and was written up extensively in the Armed Citizens Network Newsletter. I don't recall the issue but have cited it a few times before here.