Florida shooting ruled self-defense

[Frandy]

AP story: Florida shooting ruled self-defense


Fatal Shooting in Fla. Ruled Self-Defense

By Associated Press

July 21, 2005, 7:34 AM EDT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The fatal shooting of two men by a tenant they were trying to evict was ruled self-defense because one of them was brandishing a gun and a chain, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein ruled that the July 9 deaths were justifiable homicides. "That's my decision, based on the facts that I have," said Shorstein, who reviewed the case last week.

He said the victims -- cousins John McPherson, 21, and Calvin Threadcraft, 26 -- had a handgun and chain when they entered the home and the tenant, Melvin Wilcox, was threatened.

"The law is relatively simple," Shorstein said. "If someone enters your home and you are in fear of imminent death or great bodily harm, you can use deadly force." (bold emphasis mine - Frandy)

The victims were shot along with landlord Pamela Batie, McPherson's sister. She survived.

Shorstein's decision didn't sit well with Leonard McPherson, father of Batie and John McPherson, and uncle to Threadcraft.

"That ain't right. He killed two people," McPherson told The Florida Times-Union on Tuesday. "That's cold-blooded murder." (apparently not, Mr. McPherson! - bold emphasis and comment mine - Frandy)

Wilcox, 26, was questioned by police but not arrested.

 

[beerslurpy]

Bwahahahaha.

Florida, where the government still recognizes that it is the landlord and not the state who is sovereign over his own property.

 

[stangboy555]

Dead beat tenant or not, it doesn't give the landlord the right to enter a rented property, especially when armed.. they should have just waited.. it's so easy to evict someone in Florida. You can file paperwork and have the cops there the kick somsone out in less than two weeks.

 

[Kurush]

Oh great, I can't wait to hear the NYT hysteria on this one. "In FL, you can be killed for evicting a tenant!!!!!!! It is the wild west!!!!!!" Wrong, you can't evict people by hiring thugs to beat up the tenant.

 

[Pilgrim]

I performed several evictions as a deputy sheriff in the PDRK over the course of six years. The scenario where something like this FL shooting was most likely to occur was when the landlord was new to the game, renting out a piece of property recently acquired through inheritance.

Said landlord had little to no experience in property management, and often rented out the property without a formal written rental agreement. When the landlord realized he had a deadbeat tenant on his hands, he was surprised when the police or sheriff wouldn't just come and chuck the bum out. The police said it was the sheriff's job. The sheriff said the landlord needed a Writ of Possession for real property, issued by the local court.

The cost for having an attorney handle the eviction was about $500. Faced with this, plus the fact the landlord was already out $1,000+ in back rent, some landlords were tempted to find a quicker and cheaper solution. I remember a couple of landlords who came dangerously close to being arrested for some of the stunts they pulled, like turning off the tenant's power or changing the locks while the tenant was away.

Pilgrim

 

[Gewehr98]

Looks like a good shooting to me.

There is a right way, and a wrong way, to do evictions. I'd wager the McPherson's have finally figured out which is which.