After the shot.

[alex_h]

Well I posted my story afew months ago about what had happened when a bg entered my house http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=524195 and shortly after i was visited and served a summons by the BG, I was being sued for $500,000. In IL here we have no castle doc but the law in IL says in the criminal code though

720 ILCS 5/) Criminal Code of 1961

Section 7. Justifiable use of force. Use of deadly force justified if the person reasonably believes they are in danger of death or great physical harm. Use of deadly force justified if the unlawful entry is violent, or the person believes the attacker will commit a felony upon gaining entry.

Section 7-2(b). Prevents the aggressor from filing any claim against the defender unless the use of force involved "willful or wanton misconduct".

Illinois has no requirement of retreat. (People v. Bush, 111 N.E.2d 326 Ill.1953).

They were able to file because he was not convicted of breaking and entering or anything else other the parole violation, and for this to take effect he must be convicted. Thankfully I have had a great lawyer on my side through this ordeal and was awarded court cost and lost wages. It was not much, I missed three days of work over it.

I don't think it's over yet I can see a appeal coming the way this idiot is. It's a good reminder of why to better place your shots.

 

[uspJ]

Glad you won your case. It's sad that a criminal can sue an honest person defending themselves from crime.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Well, you can sue him and get a declaratory??? judgment, to prevent him from suing you again, but right now, hopefully you lawyer can get any appeal kicked out for lacking grounds before you ever get to another trial.

 

[3:00hold]

Sorry to hear about the troubles you're going through. It's good to know that your local DA served the community by making sure the BG was apropriately charged for the crime (sarcasm). Assuming the DA knows the law, I wonder if he did that to screw you over?


It would seem they should try to help law-abiding citizens by making sure to satisfy the conditions of the law after a 'good shoot', but that may be asking too much from our public servants.

 

[heeler]

Not sure how in the world I missed your original story.....
It is almost unfathomable to me that someone can break into the place you live in and force you to defend your life and then haul you before the system to try and bleed money out of you!!!
And the other insult is some faceless moron working as a 911 operator telling you to put your gun down and basically go hide underneath your bed sheets in the hope this felon will just go away and not harm you.
How in the hell did this nation go so beserk.
I guess perhaps I was just born in the wrong generation or something.
Here's hoping you good weather and a prosperous life and pox on that sorry felon.
This story just makes me sick.

 

[alsaqr]

Alex, i'm glad that you won your case. It is a very sad day when a home invader is allowed to sue the victim of his crime.

 

[Robert]

Its a good reminder of why to better place your shots.

If you case is still pending or you expect an appeal I would be careful about posting things in an open forum that might be used against you. Maybe I am too paranoid but you never know...

 

[alex_h]

If you case is still pending or you expect an appeal I would be careful about posting things in an open forum that might be used against you. Maybe I am too paranoid but you never know...

According to my lawyer the case is over. I just hate that this guy is driving me nuts like this I think it is more about he is unhappy about the fact he looks over from his parents house and see me with my revolver in a shoulder harness and know he cant get anything from my house or me.

One thing I must say is that after this I have made many friends with the local police. He likes to call them every now and then and accuses me of coming onto his parents property with a gun, I think a few of the officers are getting annoyed with it the last time I was told if he does it again without proof they will take him in for false report.

 

[Purgatory]

HEELER, you said it about as cleanly and politely as I could have.
-And your basically rhetorical question:

How in the hell did this nation go so beserk.

Even if someone could answer this question in detail, it wouldn't change our plight.

And this:

I guess perhaps I was just born in the wrong generation or something.

I have said this, myself, many times.

Alex H., Good luck with the legal hot mess.

These stories cause me great stress and disgust.

I have to force myself to ingest more entertaining and even comical material to counter all the news and stories of this type of injustice.

Thank God and our forefathers and the many vets who died to ensure that you had a gun. From the sound of it, this was not the type of trash that would have been kind if he'd found you alone and unarmed.

I'm thankful you were able to utilize your right to bear arms to turn the tables on this, certainly otherwise, very dangerous encounter.

Not only did he not retreat upon finding you home, but, after warning him you had a gun, he proceeded to advance upon the very room you called out from.

I mean......you're either dangerously stupid, or viciously evil with certain mal-intent.

It's too bad you weren't able to end his suffering.

I mean, isn't that what guns have been used for for centuries,

Putting damaged animals out of their misery?

So,......own more than one gun and preferably have more than one at the ready.
-And if it has to be .410, use buck or slugs.

 

[Dnaltrop]

My next door neighbor at my last house shot a man half in/half out of his bedroom window on entry (ruled justified apparently etc etc... )

The intruder survived, and because the DA's office had not filed charges, immediately attempted to sue my Neighbor.

My neighbor then rode the DA's office keester to make sure the Invader's charges went through to their resolution.

If you shoot an intruder, Make sure you follow the legal process to the end, Any delay will be seen as a Weakness in the case surrounding the shooting, and immediately exploited by the Person who's been sitting in a hospital bed with a Round in their thigh.

They can recover in the Prison hospital instead.

 

[alex_h]

Several questions I was asked when it went to court on both cases were infuriating to say the least I am glad I was able to keep it together.

Some of the fun questions were

Why, Mr. H did you use such a small round? Did you want to make Mr. BG suffer or were you hoping to only scare him?

Mr. H, were you just trying to scare Mr. BG or are you just a poor shot?

Mr. H, why did you warn him you had a gun and would shoot him?

Mr. H, why do you carry a gun when you are outside of your home?

Mr. H, why did you not take the directions of the 911 operator to lay down your gun?

Why did you hang up on the 911 operator?

Did you want to kill Mr. BG ?

I could go on for a lot longer the one about being a bad shot about got me; he was trying to get me mad. I swallowed my pride and had to claim I was a bad shot that hurt a lot.

 

[MGD 45]

Uh.....where does it say in your State Criminal Statue that the suspect has to have been actually convicted...? It clearly states that it "Prevents the aggressor".......never mentioned that he must a "convicted aggressor"....

 

[alex_h]

It's what I was told by my lawyer, why he was able to file, that was one of the first questions I asked after I was served.

Prevents the aggressor from filing any claim against the defender unless the use of force involved "willful or wanton misconduct".

I think it has to due with this part here he was never convicted or accused of being the aggressor, he was convicted of being in violation of his parole.

 

[CWL]

Hey there alex, if your "ordeal" is not over yet, be careful in what you post here. I see several comments that could possibly be used against you during an appeal.

 

[Losov]

I could go on for a lot longer the one about being a bad shot about got me; he was trying to get me mad. I swallowed my pride and had to claim I was a bad shot that hurt a lot.

Not at all. Shooting a human being is not a day at the range. You're doing something you really don't want to do in the defense of your life, a stressful situation to all but the coldest sociopaths, which you clearly are not. Poor marksmanship is to be expected.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Mr. H, were you just trying to scare Mr. BG or are you just a poor shot?

Looks like he was fishing by giving you two options that both suited his narrative... if you say you just wanted to scare him then your shooting of him was unintentional, not self-defense and opens up a claim against your insurance company. If you say you are a bad shot, it isn't as helpful; but they can still claim you were trying to scare him but accidentally hit him and use your own testimony about being a bad shot to try and support it.

If you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost you in legal costs (both the criminal investigation and the resulting civil suit) to get this behind you? How much would you estimate it has cost you in additional costs (lost wages, etc.)?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I doubt he'll appeal. Appeal's are expensive and it doesn't sound like he has a lot of money to work with. Also, to win an appeal, there has to be an error in a matter of law. They don't review evidence in an appeal. They just look to see if there has been any mistakes made in the legal process.

At least that's how I understood it in our Intro to Law class.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Prayers that it gets closed for good soon.

 

[Sam1911]

Good cautionary tale about how the BEST shoot is always still a BAD thing.

Win or lose in a gun fight, your life just changed irreversably.


(Closed due to criminal policy drift.)