There is a tragic case out of Chicopee, Massachusetts where a 15-year-old boy was shot after he appeared to go to the wrong house after a night of drinking. 42-year-old Jeffrey Lovell is accused of shooting through the door and killing teenager Dylan Francisco. Lowell is facing a murder charge.
It is a case reminiscent of the most notorious case involving the shooting of a Japanese student in Baton Rouge. The 16-year-old Japanese exchange student, Yoshihiro Hattori, was looking for a Halloween party and scared the wife of Rodney Peairs when he spoke a strange language and approached the house. Peairs shot him in the chest with a .44 Magnum handgun and was later cleared under a Make My Day law as mistaken defense of his home and self. We also saw a tragic such case involving the killing of a law student last year.
Francisco was trying to find a friend with another teenager after drinking a bit. The similarity of the homes in the neighborhood probably contributed to the confusion. The teenagers knocked on the door and they may have broken a pane of glass on the door.
Lovell is known to pose with various guns and has been a vocal advocate of the Second Amendment.
These cases often raise “Castle doctrine” issues where home owners are allowed to use lethal force in the cases of intruders within their domicile or home. In Massachusetts, you generally must show that you are acting in reasonable self-defense. However, there is an exception under G.L. c. 278, § 8A :
In the prosecution of a person who is an occupant of a dwelling charged with killing or injuring one who was unlawfully in said dwelling, it shall be a defense that the occupant was in his dwelling at the time of the offense and that he acted in the reasonable belief that the person unlawfully in said dwelling was about to inflict great bodily injury or death upon said occupant or upon another person lawfully in said dwelling, and that said occupant used reasonable means to defend himself or such other person lawfully in said dwelling. There shall be no duty on said occupant to retreat from such person unlawfully in said dwelling.
Thus there is no duty to retreat but you must show (1) that he or she reasonably believed that the intruder was unlawfully entering the dwelling, (2) that he or she reasonably believed that the intruder was about to inflict death or serious bodily injury upon the defendant or someone else who is lawfully in the dwelling, and (3) the defendant acted with reasonable means of self-defense or defense of another person who was lawfully present. Here Francisco did not enter the dwelling but may have broken the pane of a window in the door. There is also the question of whether it is reasonable to believe that he was facing either death of serious bodily injury. Again that pane of glass could be key to a defense. Moreover, Lowell says that he first tried to speak with the teenager but fired after the breaking of the glass.
What do you think?
Source: Washington Post
Self-preservation is your prime directive.
Jim22 says to young men: “Don’t do stupid sh!t and you’ll live longer.”
Isaac and Paul argue against reality, as liberals must needs do, pointing to some idyllic desired future state.
Which advice lets you live longer?
Hint: Not Isaac’s.
“..and he deserved a death sentence because of it? ”
Deserves got nothing to do with it.
Isaac, Jim22 is giving good advice to young men.
You are using a straw man fallacy.
Avoid being drunk and high and banging people’s doors so hard you break the glass because someone might think you are a bad guy and kill you. (His Facebook is consistent with a pot smoking history.)
That doesn’t justify the shooting, it’s just a good simple recommendation to avoid getting killed.
But it’s your nature to argue the straw man.
Jim22, “This kid put himself into the situation not the property owner.” and he deserved a death sentence because of it? Sorry, kids do dumb things (heck, everyone does dumb things), they don’t deserve to die at the hands of a paranoid person because of it. IMHO, the home owner committed a crime, he should serve serious jail time as a result.
Won’t Canada take you back?
Thank you Jim22
You illustrate precisely the problem.
-The guy gave me the finger, cut me off, and when I yelled at him he followed me, so I shot him dead. He should not have followed me. Perhaps he was going in the same direction as I was.
-The guy cut in front of me in line and when I objected he looked at me in a threatening manner, he was much bigger than I, so I shot him.
-The guy knocked on my door asking for directions, so I shot him.
-The kid was drunk, stupid, doing what kids do, so I shot him.
-The guy seemed to be eyeballing me and the last time that happened I got the sh*t kicked out of me, so I shot him.
-I think I’ll go over and question this suspect cuz I’m packing and if he gives me any guff, I’ll just shoot him. After all I’m packing.
-This is America, so ya better watch it. It’s shoot first and don’t bother with the questions. And remember, I’m packing.
And so on. Thanks Jim.
issacbasonkavich – “What about common sense.”
Yes, what about common sense. Maybe the drunk kid should have had more of it. Don’t drink and mill around at night in a neighborhood breaking someone’s glass door because bad things just might happen to you. This kid put himself into the situation not the property owner.
In my mind I see no justification for shooting through a door. None. He had no idea what he was shooting at. I don’t care if he heard a person outside or not, he could not see what he was shooting at. I was a hunter in my youth, there were 2 primary rules that were never (never) to be broken. 1) never (never) point a gun at a person, 2) always (always) know what you are shooting at when you pull the trigger.
Glock bless Amerika. Shoot first and ask questions later. Now where’s my horse and whiskey pardner…..
“When a pane of glass broke, the suspect fired a single shot, striking the victim,” according to the statement from the Hampden DA’s office.
…Police said they were called to the house at 12:56 p.m. for a report of a breaking and entering, which suggests Lovell might have thought he was being robbed.
…The gun is discharged and with it two lives are ruined and the resulting ripples affect many others. ”
Why the passive voice?
“When a pane of glass broke…”?
Did it magically break itself, or did the kid break the window?
“The gun is discharged…”
Do guns shoot themselves?
Does WaPo have any editors?
So, you feel threatened outside a house and start firing and bullets go through walls and kill innocents. You feel threatened inside your house and start firing and bullets go stray and kill innocents. America’s greatest failure is in its mindless adherence to sacred jingoes and mumbo jumbo. What about common sense. The home owner could have fired a warning shot. The connection between the concept of threat and pulling the trigger is an empty place in the US. This guy was not the type that should be allowed near guns. Unfortunately the latest perverse interpretation of the second amendment permits just about any one the right to arm themselves to the teeth and shoot to kill without a moment’s delay.
The attitude toward guns has a lot to do w/ whether a person is charged in these type cases. Massachusetts is very anti gun. Even many Republicans hate guns in the northeast.
Alcohol claims another life.
I know a person who experienced the same scenario. A very drunk man kept trying to enter my friend’s vacation rental, believing it was his rental. I would not judge this man from Chicopee, MA. too harshly. It was a frightening experience for my friend and his wife.
I’m not sure that the broken pane gives the home owner the right to shoot through the door. Many years ago when I was living in CA, I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of breaking glass. I jumped out of bed and ran into the front room, where I saw a young man standing on my porch outside the window that he had broken. I grabbed the nearby telephone on the kitchen wall and called 9-1-1. The police dispatcher told me that if he put a hand or foot over the window sill, I could go ahead and shoot him, but so long as he remained fully outside that I must wait for the police. Fortunately two squad cars arrived within a few minutes and hauled the drunken idiot away. He served 90 days and had to pay for a new window. It could have turned out a lot worse for him!
This is the Joe Biden Defense. Shoot through the door. I agree that the broken pane gives the shooter cause.
What happened to teasers? Also, is shooting to kill necessary? Shooting someone in the knee completely disables the intruder so a 911 call can be completed. Although a home breakin and use of a gun might slow the response a bit, things being what they are these days.
Getting drunk is one of the absolutely stupidest things anyone can do.
Well, if the drunk kid broke the glass, that would seem to give rise to a reasonable fear of entry. Plus, isn’t this what Joe Biden said was okay??? To just shoot through a door??? Sad situation still.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Too bad he was not a cop… he would have gotten a pay raise.