Why I killed the robber (have to read this to believe it)

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It seems to be taken as an assumption that the threat was over. All I can tell from the article is that the guy was sitting in the car, not driving away. How is she supposed to know he's not going to run her over or get back out and finish the job he started?

Rick
 
True, if she had shot him during the assault, or when her life was arguably in danger she would not be facing these charges.
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You never know, we are talking about Australia afterall.
 
yowza,

It seems to be taken as an assumption that the threat was over. All I can tell from the article is that the guy was sitting in the car, not driving away. How is she supposed to know he's not going to run her over or get back out and finish the job he started?
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which is one of the problems about making the first statement you have about something as serious as this to the press. dunno how it works with the US, but over here statements like that are like free hits to the prosecution. It also means that the defence wont be able to claim the media biased the jury, given that it was the defence who have been doing all the biasing.

One also wonders what on earth her lawyer is doing when he/she allows her to speak to the media, unless he/she is trying to bury the case in "positive" media stories - a tactic which is unlikely to work.

You never know, we are talking about Australia afterall.
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Like the UK, our "self-defence" horror stories are, when you get down to the facts of the case, not horror stories at all. I would imagine that this woman may well get convicted of manslaughter, and six months down the line we will see "Latest Aussie Screwup" threads here - when we do, its worth noting that this is an object lesson in how not do deal with an incident of this kind, in any jurisdiction.
 
I hate to say it, but if you defend yourself with lethal force, do not talk to the cops. I repeat DO NOT TALK TO THE COPS .

Request council and call your nearest loved one to get an attorney for you. Even if you are completely justified, the statements you make can (and almost always will) be used against you.

How does this apply here? Her lawyer would have made sure the statement was simple and to the point -- emphasized the immenent danger and noted the regret for loss of life. Instead, she gave too much information and now opens the door for second guessing, by unfortunately, the prosecution.

This advice is not from me, it is from the attorney who gave a short lecture at my CCW class (mandated by VA). No matter how hard it is for you, shut up, accept the ride to the police station, and let a lawyer sort it out. That's what they do and it can be the difference between getting a medal and 5 years for manslaughter.

jh
 
On the face of it, she's toast, given that he'd stopped attacking her and was sitting in the car preparing to make his getaway. At that point it stops being self-defence and starts being revenge. Security guards have no more powers than any other citizen; police officers are in a different situation here, having a general obligation to apprehend wrongdoers. Playing cop like this can get you into big trouble.
From the sound of her reaction to it all she was in the wrong job anyway.
 
Yep, she beat herself up broke her own wrist fractured her own skull , just so she could shoot this little darling.
Come on this scumbag asked for a good killing & he got it.
Ever heard of Jury nulification?:rolleyes:
 
if it ever gets to court the judge would say, (if you asked him), "this is a court of law, not a court of morals. 'Deserved it' is not good enough."
 
Unless it was in Texas, where the judge would issue you some ammo to reimburse the expenditure. :D

But you're right, in a court of law, "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." -- Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
 
I hope there's one decent juror who knows the difference between right and wrong. I also hope the civil side doesn't ruin her life. She is a hero and at the least, innocent.

Bob Sherman
 
Well, the argument for self defense could go like this:

1.) Robber obviously tried to kill her, based on the extent of her injuries.

2.) Robber gets into stolen car.

3.) Victim of savage beating interprets this as an attempt to run her over with said car, as opposed to get away.

4.) Point #3 supported by point #1. Had robber merely intended to rob her, he could have simply demanded the money using the threat of violence. However, since violent attack was committed before the robber siezed money, one could interpret his primary intention as murder, with the secondary intention of robbery. Thus:

5.) Victim shoots her attacker, who intends on making her the victim of vehicular homicide, in self-defense.



...maybe the US needs to launch a mission to free Australians from an oppressive regime.
 
Wow...the wussy ratio is way to high is Australia! I can't believe she's being charged for murder. She should be given a freakin' medal. Australia has been feminized! When will the real men stand up?
 
John Hicks,

She hasnt spoke to the cops (or hadnt at the time those articles were written), those comments of hers have been freely made to the media, and in exchange for money. I gather she has done now, and has been charged and released on what sounds like a very wishy bail:

http://www.bordermail.com.au/newsflow/pageitem?page_id=771923

Grey,

again, she could have said those things but didnt and one would imagine that when she raises those things in her defence, she will be asked to account for the difference - it wont be very hard at all for the prosecutor to make her into a liar for the jury.
 
I guess my point on this story is the same as your comments to Grey:

talking to the press (especially in an emotional state -- who wouldn't be) is just as bad as talking to the cops: they are both ammo for the prosecution.

It sounds like cowardice, but hiding behind a lawyer/spokesperson may be the only way to protect yourself BECAUSE it is only the law and not right-and-wrong that matters.

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse the issue, my main point was she should have shut up until the legal matters were sorted out.

jh
 
Can't imagine they could convince a jury to convict her. Ausies are not exactly French afterall. As looney as America is, I'm still glad I live here, cause this wouldn't be an issue here. Now if she was a real cop in LA or Miami, now thats another story assuming the perp is black......
 
You should always flee. FLEE!! Run for your lives!!

No, wait....

Severe headwounds are often lethal. This was severe enough to fracture the skull and eye socket, aka major head trauma. The guy tried to bash her brains in for chrissakes. As far as the gal knew, she sustained a mortal wound, right?

If I sustained a mortal wound, I wouldn't just curtsey and offer my assailant a nice cup of tea....
 
Like the UK, our "self-defence" horror stories are, when you get down to the facts of the case, not horror stories at all.
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Depends on your point of view ol' chap. Even after you have "edumacated" me about the facts, I still shudder at some of these cases.

The law should serve the people. What kind of service is the law doing to the people if it prosecutes and/or convicts this poor woman? Is society going to somehow be safer because she goes to jail for a few years? Whose interests will be served if she is tried/convicted? I would submit that the interests of Australia's society will be damaged in this case, not served.

The danger to society (the robber, if you can't tell) has been eliminated. Be thankful about that and let this woman go on with her life.

The propensity for courts to 'monday-morning-quarterback' events like this is sickening. There is a world of difference between having days, weeks, months to decide what one should have done, and lying on the ground, severely injured, and trying to fight for your life, with only seconds to make your move. Any court that does not try to judge from the point of view of the victim, but instead applies some sort of arbitrary legal standard, is not worth spit.
 
I think she needs to be severly repremanded ...
for failure to shot him sooner.

The police should be charged as accomplises to an armed robbery for even suggesting that an armed gaurd should not be protecting both herself and the assets she was paid to protect. :scrutiny:
 
Gee, MKVII,

I thought EVERYBODY had a general obligation to apprehend wrongdoers. Ya' know, Hue and Cry, etc? The guy had obviously already committed two Common Law (that is, real) felonies; attempted murder and armed robbery. The woman thought she was fixin' to die. Back when English justice was still such, before those annoying Normans arrived, no one would have complained about something like this.
 
Whoever serves as her council needs to use the fact the she recived serious trauma to the head. It seems that there might be some permanent damage to this lady and to her brain. So if there is some long lasting damage you could only imagine that she was not in a rational state during the encounter.
 
I thought EVERYBODY had a general obligation to apprehend wrongdoers.
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Might have been the case before the general establishment of police forces in the 1850s. Since then justice systems have become sharply skewed towards letting the police take care of enforcement
 
Yes this type of nonsense is coming soon to your hometown if it has not all ready.
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:rolleyes:

Yeah, thats why more states are passing "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" laws and we're down to only TWO states that completely ban CCW.


Just because Austrailia, England (and for that matter California) are going to hell in a handbasked doesn't mean the rest of the States are headed that way too.
 
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