From: smith@ctron.com (Lawrence C Smith)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Japanese exchange student killed in Louisiana...
Date: 5 Nov 92 20:35:50 GMT
Reply-To: smith@ctron.com
Followup-To: soc.culture.japan
Organization: Cabletron Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Nov5.064635.26650@nntp.csl.sony.co.jp>, kono@csl.sony.co.jp (Shinji Kono) writes:

>a142548@utkvm1.utk.edu (T. Archer) writes 
>>No "excuse" is necessary.  The facts indicate that the citizen had 
>>reasonable cause to feel that he was threatened, and did not have the luxury 
>>of exploring further.  He gave a verbal warning, which was ignored.  In his 
>>perception, he had no choice but to shoot.

>I cannot believe this posting....  A simple warning is no excuse for
>the murder. How do you think if your police start gun fire with a
>warning?

The warning was not the excuse, Shinji.  The excuse was the perceived threat,
and the warning was Hattori's legally required last chance to cease the threat.
That he did not do so because he did not understand is unfortunate, and not
just for him.

>The murderer had many other choices, for example,

First of all, murder implies a premeditated criminal intent.  The man committed
a _homicide_, not a murder.

Furthermore he felt he was in a threatening situation.  _We_, sitting here in
our comfy, well-lit offices, were not in his slippers.  That student, whether
intending to or not, did a pretty good imitation of a threatening prowler.

This is not even all that unusual a situation.  Just a few months ago
some kid in Boston (I think - one of the thousands of little towns inside
rt 128) was blown away by a cop because he drew his water pistol on a friend.
It was late in the day, the light wasn't good, it was a bad neighborhood, any
or all of which might have also applied to the student shooting.  So a
nine-year-old bites the dust when the cop sees him train what looked like
a gun on another person.  I suppose we should be grateful the kid was white
or we'd have had race riots.  The cop was not charged, or even disciplined.
It _looked_ like someone was going to be attacked.  That is a legitimate
excuse.

>    Repeat warnings,

Depends on the potential attackers' closing speed.  We don't know how far
apart they were standing.

>    Wait and see,

He was frightened enough to have gotten a gun out, _something_ was happening
that was scarey.  Besides, he was being approached.  He may not have been
able to see the kid's arms - or he could see them doing _something_, like
pulling a knife or whatever.

>    Shut the door again,

Leaves a potential assailant running loose.  Besides, the reports I heard
had him confronting the kid away from the door.

>    Call someone for help,

911?  And listen to pretty music, like that guy watching the rape in Boston
last year?  In any event, cops need anything up to ten or fifteen _minutes_,
even if you _are_ the only emergency, in a typical town.  That's plenty of
time to be stabbed/shot/robbed, etc.  It's probably not enough time to get
raped, though.

>    Run away,

Never turn your back on a potential assailant.

>    Shoot something other than Hattori's body,

Goetz's Lesson: if you shoot, shoot to kill.  _Never_ leave them alive to sue.
Furthermore, if the assailant was armed, a non-fatal shot might leave them an
opportunity to return fire.

>    Tell him not to kill me, etc...

Doesn't work during most fatal attacks, obviously.  This is tried every day.
I'm sure every one of Jeffrey Dahmer's dinner dates begged him not to kill
them.

Look, _we_ don't know the circumstances here, _that's_ what grand juries
are for.  If the homeowner was unjustified or negligent, he _will_ be charged.
That much of our legal system still works - if it's not drugs or traffic, the
US legal system is pretty reliable, if slow.  It is not for anyone not
possessed of the facts the grand jury will review to try and convict this
man in absentia.  Maybe he _does_ have delusions, maybe he _did_ plan to
kill Hattori.  But the grand jury seems not to think so.

Larry Smith (smith@ctron.com)  No, I don't speak for Cabletron.  Need you ask?
-
Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever we want,
it is the freedom to do whatever we are able.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:10250 talk.politics.guns:23667