From a Louisiana case:
Man shot a 16 year old kid who was NOT invading his home - mistakenly taking him for a home invasion. While the kids were trick or treating on Halloween, the wife panicked when they appeared at her car port door, she yelled "GET THE GUN" and the husband shot one of them....*
He was arrested, taken to jail, and tried for criminal manslaughter before that verdict was issued. Very life disrupting.
Source: http://www.lclark.edu/live/files/7234-lcb144art5forellpdf
In this case, it was a "good" outcome:
If he'd used an AK-47 "evil assault rifle" instead of a 44 magnum revolver, would the verdict have been different?
It .. Didn't end there.
So now we have an instance where people in Luisiana can be sued for wrongful death following a "cleared shooting"... and lose.
I'll leave you with this final quote to chew on for considering what piece to keep handy for home defense in Louisiana; another case referenced in that same document:
*43 million dollars*.
That's a lot of dough.
Now you think the weapon you choose matters, considering it may end up being shown to a Jury some day in court?
Man shot a 16 year old kid who was NOT invading his home - mistakenly taking him for a home invasion. While the kids were trick or treating on Halloween, the wife panicked when they appeared at her car port door, she yelled "GET THE GUN" and the husband shot one of them....*
He was arrested, taken to jail, and tried for criminal manslaughter before that verdict was issued. Very life disrupting.
In his closing argument prosecuting attorney Doug Moreau
highlighted the lack of proportion in Peairs’s reaction to his wife’s fear.
“He goes back to the bedroom, gets the gun, never, ever, ever asking,
‘Hey, what’s up? What’s out there? What would you like me to do?’ It’s
his conduct in going to the closet and getting the biggest handgun made
by human beings and never ever asking what it’s for.”
Source: http://www.lclark.edu/live/files/7234-lcb144art5forellpdf
In this case, it was a "good" outcome:
The jury only deliberated three and a half hours before acquitting Peairs.
If he'd used an AK-47 "evil assault rifle" instead of a 44 magnum revolver, would the verdict have been different?
It .. Didn't end there.
1. The Civil Trial
When Yoshi’s parents did not receive an apology, they opted for the
remedy that is viewed as the typical means of receiving reasonable
compensation in the United States: a lawsuit.
In 1994, the wrongful death suit was tried to Judge William Brown, sitting without a jury.
...
Judge Brown awarded the Hattoris more than $650,000 in damages and costs, stating: “There was absolutely no need to the resort of a dangerous weapon.”
Only Peairs appealed; after trial his insurance company paid its policy limit of $100,000 to the Hattoris.
So now we have an instance where people in Luisiana can be sued for wrongful death following a "cleared shooting"... and lose.
I'll leave you with this final quote to chew on for considering what piece to keep handy for home defense in Louisiana; another case referenced in that same document:
Another difference between the two Peairs cases that arguably
affected the outcomes was that the criminal trial was tried to a jury and
the civil trial was tried to a judge. Perhaps the jury was more easily swayed
by Peairs’s subjective fear for himself, his family, and his home than the
judges were in the tort case. However, in the case involving Bernhard
Goetz, he fared very differently in his two jury trials. In the tort case, the
jury awarded a whopping $43 million to one of the young men he shot
even though the jury in the criminal case acquitted him of attempted
murder. These starkly different jury verdicts suggest that outcomes in
criminal and civil cases are often not dependent on whether the civil case
is tried to a judge or a jury.
*43 million dollars*.
That's a lot of dough.
Now you think the weapon you choose matters, considering it may end up being shown to a Jury some day in court?