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
@Issac
Oh, so now anytime somebody approaches a black person it creates an altercation??? My, but you sure have a low of opinion of black people, don’t you? I guess you don’t think black people are capable of saying stuff like,
“Oh, I was just on my way home from the store where I bought some Skittles. I live in Apt. 12B right there with my father. I sure feel safer knowing that we have a Neighborhood Watch here! Have a good evening.”
Nope, not old Isaac—it’s straight to “I gonna bust yo head, Cracka!!!”
Hilarious bunch of hypocrisy.
FWIW, you were right about “narcissism” above. Just you got the perp wrong. The narcissists are people like YOU, who get their self-esteem boost from taking up for the poor suffering black man. (Who they think incapable of civilized conversation.) Geeesh, dude, haven’t you ever heard of “enabling behavior.” Man, you should change your name to “Clueless in Canada.”
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“That’s manslaughter.”
Your argument lost in court, badly.
Others, like at Legal Insurrection, followed the actual evidence and court testimony in great detail.
None of what you wrote reflects reality.
Denial of reality is a basic tenet of leftism, I know, but it so often veers toward the delusional views of schizophrenia that I’d like to see a functional MRI comparing the two thought disorders.
Paul
During and after the trial every police officer, department, neighborhood watch official etc stated that protocol dictates that the neighborhood watch person is not to engage any one suspected of breaking the law or simply stated, stay out of it. They are to contact the police department and leave it to them. Manuals were mentioned and shown on TV. That you did not have a manual does not negate the protocol. The police department in Zimmerman’s neighborhood and the neighborhood watch association both acknowledged the protocol.
After the stupidity of charging Zimmerman with murder, a charge he was sure to and did beat, there was no legal commentator that said that Zimmerman shouldn’t have been charged with manslaughter, the appropriate charge, and none that said he would have beaten a manslaughter charge. Given that manslaughter charges range from something as serious as what Zimmerman did down to negligence, many, many legal experts stated that he would have been charged and done time in prison. Look up manslaughter and you will find that Zimmerman’s killing of Martin falls between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
What Zimmerman did has an appropriate manslaughter charge. He created an altercation by approaching Martin. He was in the car, then he left the car. That he was tailing or stalking Martin is recorded fact. The only element that alludes to Martin attacking Zimmerman comes from the only surviving person, Zimmerman, that Martin attacked him.
Zimmerman created the situation and was armed. He took a gun to a fistfight that he created. That’s manslaughter. Whether or not one believes that Zimmerman was in fear for his life is beside the point. Zimmerman is alive and Martin is dead. Zimmerman killed Martin. Zimmerman was the only person that could have avoided the situation. Protocol dictates that he stay in the car. and on and on and on. Zimmerman is free only because stupid Angela Corey charged him with murder and not manslaughter. The law is made by people and handled by people and sometimes stupid people administer the law. O J Simpson skated because of stupid legal administrators. Zimmerman is free for the same reasons.
Paul
The basic facts are:
– Protocol dictates-written in manuals and expounded by all police departments-that neighborhood watch people do not approach suspects. This is physical and recorded proof that Zimmerman acted outside of his capacity as a neighborhood watch member. Zimmerman is also a known trouble maker and abuser of females who would never have approached Martin without a gun. This is manslaughter.
– The dispatcher stated that Zimmerman did not have to approach the suspect. The dispatcher did not advise or order Zimmerman but in stating that Zimmerman was not obligated to approach the suspect she reinforced the protocol.
– Zimmerman was never going to be convicted of murder. He was charged with murder.
– Zimmerman would have been convicted on manslaughter had that been the charge.
These are not liberal or conservative, simply facts.
The only reason Zimmerman is not doing 20 years for manslaughter is Angela Corey is an narcissistic idiot who has proven herself over and over again to be off the beam. Case closed.
issac – I am the block captain of my neighborhood watch and we never got a manual. I doubt that Zinnermann got a manual. And that is a fact, Jack.
Issac, I don’t know that it was manslaughter because the aggressor seems to have been the victim at some point during the encounter which was clearly initiated by Zimmerman. I agree that the latter should not have approached the victim in the first place. That’s police business, and he wasn’t a cop, but more of a vigilante without enough to do with himself.
This will become known as the broken window defense. If a window in my home was broken from the outside with some violence, I might shoot or otherwise act to hurt what I perceived as a dangerous intruder. I bet he gets off.
@Paul
If the dude had shot based on the knocking alone, then you would be correct that it would be paranoia, or general nuttiness. BUT—there was the broken glass. That changes the whole story. Please note that I stated I would not pull the trigger based on that alone. I think it is important to see who you are shooting. Heck, it could have been an innocent black bear or racoon. But then again, I am not a spooky type of person. Particularly if I have my AK47 and 5 shot 38 with me. And a wooden samurai sword thing, and a baseball bat, and a machete. Plus, I just have a mean streak sometimes. This guy OTOH may be one of the nervous, spooky types.
I admit that I jumped to the conclusion of your liberalness. That was based on what I perceived as your “code talk” statement. If you are NOT a liberal, then I heartily apologize for calling you one, because that is a terrible thing to call a person. About as bad as being a pedophile, or Amway salesperson.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@BillWeedon
No way! Leftists think they are way too smart to research anything! They are convinced they are brilliant just based on who they are. That is why things that are obvious to intelligent people fly right over their heads. Gee, did the whole Great Society thing work??? They talk about disparity and divorce it completely from the reality of the welfare mom with four illegitimate kids by four baby daddies. That is why they draw blanks on blacks killing blacks. They don’t have to think about such things. Why? Don’t you know they are just brilliant the way they are???
That is why they call names all the time. They have lost the mental capacity to argue. If they ever had it. They are the ultimate poseurs.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeaky … “Then there is something wrong with YOU! Because you are imagining things. You just admitted it! What you do is very common with liberals and leftists. You guys have a mindset that you are civilized guardians protecting the world from ravaging hordes of conservatives.”
Wow, I have been called a lot of things in my life, and indeed I probably have many things wrong with me. But a liberal? HA HA HA HA HA. My dad would argue for the next year on that point alone. Because of things I’ve said you have made some interesting judgments of my political leanings. What a joke. I know nothing of others political leanings, I am very confident you know nothing of mine.
KCFleming corrected me to say “So anyone that does stupid stuff is more likely to die, not should die”. Fine, but die how, by falling drunk on his face, hitting his head and dying ? No, by knocking on the door of a paranoid person and getting shot. Big difference.
I’ll repeat it again. If we live in a society that considers it ok to kill a person because he knocked on the door of a stranger while drunk, we as a society have serious problems and will not survive. As a society of people living together there has to be some level of trust. blowing a hole through a door at an unknown object because a window may have been broken, and hearing noises, is a sad state of affairs.
I’ll repeat my hunting rules from so many years ago that I believe still apply (slightly modified because I am confident of the criticism to come)…
1) never point a gun at a person (unless you mean to kill that person)
2) always know what you are shooting at when you pull the trigger.
Interesting post above about the woman that shot through the door at her ex. I also know of a recent event where a woman had her kids go to the basement while a man with a gun was outside shooting at the house and approaching the house. She positioned herself with a gun in the house facing the door after calling 911 and waited. No shots through the door at what she thought might be an intruder, she waited. Cops showed up and arrested the man with the gun. No shots fired.
Our war and paranoid mentality is completely out of control.
No Paul
The only evidence were the lies that came out of Zimmerman. He was packing a gun. The dispatch officer notified him he did not have to get out, that he should leave it to the police. Protocol dictates that the citizen stay out of it and wait for the cops. The written guidelines available to the neighborhood watch community states clearly that those of the neighborhood watch should not get involved and simply report the incidents, of which the only one was the imaginary one in the perverted feted mind of George Zimmerman. Martin was being stalked by Zimmerman-phone records prove that. Martin was not stalking Zimmerman. Zimmerman was out of his vehicle when the altercation happened. He was not dragged out of his vehicle. He left to confront Martin or he left to locate Martin. It doesn’t take much of a thug to get a little testy when they are being stalked. The only reason a cowardly useless piece of sh*t like Zimmerman would leave his vehicle to look for or whatever someone is because he had a gun. If Zimmerman did not have a gun he would have stayed locked in his vehicle and let the police handle it, whatever it was. Logic, Zimmerman’s past history, and all available information, evidence, illustrates that Zimmerman took a gun to an altercation when he could have avoided one and when protocol and common sense dictated that he stay out of it. Zimmerman is a cowardly danger to anyone who gets anywhere close. And, you defend him. Either you’re just fu*%ing with us or you are missing a few…..
issac – your first fact not in evidence is that the dispatcher was an officer. The dispatcher had no legal authority at all. However, you have bought into the liberal lies that were told. If you had followed the trial you would have seen there was no way they were going to convict Zinnermann.
@BillWeedon
Thanks! I think it is sickening how liberals and leftists just ignore what they have wrought in the black community. They have made the black man unnecessary in his own race, beyond being a baby daddy. They don’t need him as a husband and father, because the government has stepped into that role. It is just unbelievable how Democrats bandy around all the “disparity” crap and fail to talk about the 75% illegitimate birth rate in the hood. They would rather lie to blacks and blame it on white privilege.
Then when the cops react and sometimes over-react to the savagery, the press runs to the location. What a hoot. They condemn the cops for assuming blacks will act in a lawless manner, yet the press is there precisely because they expect blacks to act in a lawless manner and loot stores and riot and they don’t want to miss the excitement and ratings.
And when exactly do gun sales spike? After a mass shooting or terrorist act. I read somewhere in the last few days that gun ownership is a civil rights issue for blacks. I agree. It should be for Jews, too. And women.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I’m glad that you mentioned the issue of “illegitimate birth in the hood”. Perhaps the leftists should be encouraged to research thier abortion savior Margaret Sanger (founder, of course, of Planned a Parenthood) and find out the real purpose of the Angel of Abortion.
You are absolutely correct about gun sales spiking after any tragic shooting event. Maybe if the anti-gun activists realized that gunviolence goes down when responsible, trained gun owners are allowed to carry thier firearms under open carry laws, gun violence goes down. Let’s face it, the bad guys don’t like to commit crimes when they know they might well become the next statistic!
God bless America and God bless the NRA!
Was this or was it not “innocent trespassing” at least until glass was broken? Did the breaking of the glass void “innocent trespassing” if it existed before and what was the new legal situation in this specific case?
Dieter: I can’t imagine how breaking glass is considered being “unlawfully in said dwelling” and “about to inflict great bodily injury or death upon said occupant or upon another person lawfully in said dwelling,” unless the boy’s arm was inserted through the broken glass and he was presenting with a hand grenade, dynamite, a knife, a gun, or a photo of Hillary Clinton, just before he was shot to death.
Squeaky F,
As always always, excellent point. Perhaps if people were to realize that, until the early 60’s, most of black Americans were republicans (as was the Honorable Dr. Martin Kuther King, God rest his soul), and the fact that Republicans are the ones who fought for the Civil Liberty Act of 1964, despite the resistance from the Democratic Party and, most notably Senator Byrd (who Hillary Clinton idolized), they might, possibly, start to see an iota of the truth.
The fact is that the Democratic Party changed thier ideology when they realized that they could gain a stronger political influence by becoming the “loving, caring” party. I often wonder what the Honorable Dr. King would say about the BLM movement, the New NAACP and other such “equal rights activists” (I.e. Reverend Jesse Jackson and the infallible Al Sharpton).
@PaulCS
Very true. I think I might not have shot Francisco under these circumstances, but I was not there like this guy was. Who knows what his neighborhood was like, or what fears the shooter had. If the kid hadn’t been drinking, this would not have happened. Francisco did not deserve to die for this mistake, but neither does the guy who shot him seem to deserve punishment. Based on the facts as presented.
IsaacB and his ilk set about to destroy the foundations of civilization in their desire for power and for boosts to their self-esteem, and then want to carp about the world they worked overtime to create. Perhaps if the family structure in black neighborhoods had not been sacrificed for Democratic Party votes, then our society would not have become so used to violence.
But some of us live in the real world, not gated communities, so we have guns and ammo. So, poop happens sometimes
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
@isaac
You said, “Zimmerman was clearly guilty of manslaughter in the first degree regardless of Martin giving him a whooping. ”
1. Do not quit your day job and take up law. A person does not have to suffer some set quantum of injury before “self-defense” defenses are raised. Fear alone is enough. There was blood on the back of Z’s head, Z had a broken nose, and a witness saw Poor Little Trayvon on top of Z.
2. Sooo, if you disbelieve Zimmerman, and Poor Little Trayvon ist kaput, then aren’t you the one assuming facts not in evidence, not me??? There was both bodily evidence that Z was telling the truth, and a witness. The forensics backed up Z.
3. As far as “judging” Poor Little Trayvon, hmmm. Why don’t we let Trayvon speak? To wit:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/trayvon-martin-no-thats-not-his-facebook-page-showing-gangsta-photos-updated-6538603
Well, it turns out it was Poor Little Trayvon, aka “No Limit N*gga” – was a wannabee gangsta, and probably a thief. I think you let yourself get fooled by the skittles.
4. Uh, er, uh. . . they had this little thingy called a”trial”, and a “DOJ Investigation” so, I tend to believe that over you.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
squeeky
For the last time, manslaughter is designed for those who use excessive force, for those who take a gun and start a fight, knowing that they have the gun and the other guy doesn’t, for those that are in control of a situation before it starts, for those that instigate the situation and then kill their opponent who wasn’t an opponent until they showed up. Zimmerman was clearly guilty of manslaughter in the first degree regardless of Martin giving him a whooping. The head into the cement stuff is from Zimmerman. There was no incontrovertible proof that Zimmerman was in danger of dying. The medical experts testified that Zimmerman’s marks did not indicate that his life was in danger. There is only Zimmerman’s word cuz he killed the only other guy. In the end after the BS is filtered out we have Zimmerman loaded for bear approaching a guy who was minding his own business. Martin may have been a teenage punk but that is all that he was. Those that label him worse might just be a little guilty of identifying him by his, well you fill in the rest. I’m sure your gifted imagination can do that. If you put Zimmerman’s history of spousal abuse, being rejected by the police, fighting the police while drunk, and a host of other nuisances you get a wannabe jerk who wanted to be taken seriously so badly he set up a situation where he was the top dog in a confrontation. In other words he took a gun to a fistfight. He started the encounter and most likely the fistfight. Zimmerman has indicated nothing other than being that sort of loser. He needed a cause, so he made one of the most reprehensible sort. That is manslaughter. The fact that the idiot Angela Corey charged him with murder, a charge that was impossible to prove does not change the facts.
You have a habit, as do most extremists, of linking events in discussion with those that are remotely connected and really have no bearing on the issue under discussion. Cracklings in New Orleans is a reference probably made under the influence of whatever, soaked in whatever. From your posts you seem like the poster child for someone that should never be allowed near guns. You constantly make my point.
This guy who shot the kid did not go looking for a fight as did Zimmerman. However, he represents what is wrong with America, what didn’t used to be, what we are all getting used to and reading some of the responses on this blog, encouraging. The guy took it too far or just far enough depending on whether or not you want to roll back this insanity or go Fort Apache.
issac – the standard is not if a medical expert feels I am in threat for my life. The standard is “Do I feel I am in threat for my life.”
BTW, evidence proved that Zinnemann did not go looking for a fight. Trayvon Martin was looking for a fight.
@PaulCS
You know, PaulCS, maybe me and you are wrong about this. I mean some of these liberals seem to have super-thick skulls, sooo maybe Trayvon could have pounded their heads on the sidewalk for hours and they would not have felt a thing. So maybe they are not just dumb bunnies, but maybe it’s a physical thing, to where they just can’t relate to the thickness of a normal person’s skull???
🙂
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky – phrenology has been out of favor for some time but we could bring it back. I am sure there is a couple of million in research funds running around that could be used to prove that liberals have thicker skulls than conservatives.
Oops, proofreading error. It should be if being attacked and call 911, the call should be ignored.
WELL SAID @issacbasonkavitch.
@NickS
There’s nothing wrong with poutine except for all the carbs, but he needs to come down to New Orleans, eat some good cracklins, and then go strolling around the Quarter after there has been some big black social or rap concert event. Because things can get interesting. I suspect he will have experiences they don’t much have up in Canada. It would not at all be unlikely he could personally witness a head-meet-concrete event.
Did you read that blurb above about the 15 year old black feral sociopath who had already got shot once (when he was 14) and was still in the B & E and Robbery business??? That is the reality of what the cops have to deal with. And the medical personnel. And social workers. etc.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“Why are so many people blaming the victim”
No one did.
“and saying drinking is one of the dumbest things to do?”
No one said that either.
“But killing an innocent, unarmed teenager through the front door is sane?”
Also said by no one.
Lying or poor reading comprehension?
Whatever, all the lefties here seem to have the same problem.
Luckily, I no longer care what they think, because they repeatedly demonstrate they are irrational.