In my torts class, we just discussed the privilege of self-defense, the Castle Doctrine, and statutory Stand Your Ground laws. There is a new case out of Indiana where Martell Pickens, 30, is facing reckless homicide charges for the shooting of Khadolphee Taylor, 25, outside his Fort Wayne home. The case shows the conflicts that arise in the application of both common law and statutory privileges in the use of lethal force.
Pickens told Fort Wayne police that he was woken up around 2:45 a.m. and saw a “suspicious” man walking around his neighborhood, according to the probable cause affidavit obtained by WANE.
Surveillance tapes reportedly showed Taylor attempting to break into Pickens’ home. He also alleged that Taylor had attempted to break into various cars.
Pickens grabbed a Glock .45 caliber handgun and went outside. He can be heard asking Taylor, “What are you doing?” and warned Taylor to “back up.”
According to Pickens, Taylor continued toward him but also acknowledged that Taylor was unarmed. He shot Taylor in the chest and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officers observed that Taylor appeared intoxicated or mentally impaired in a traffic stop twenty minutes before the shooting. He was also driving on a suspended license. He was given a citation and allowed to walk home.
In his affidavit, Fort Wayne Police Detective Brian Martin stated: “Based upon the investigation, Pickens knowingly armed himself and voluntarily exited the safety of his residence to confront Taylor,” concluding that there was “probable cause to believe Pickens recklessly killed Khadolphee D. Taylor by engaging in conduct constituting a plain, conscious, and unjustifiable disregard of harm, the disregard involving a substantial deviation from acceptable standards of conduct.”
He is being held without bond and could be facing up to six years in prison for reckless homicide.
The Indiana Stand Your Ground provision states in pertinent part:
“A person is justified in using reasonable force against any other person to protect the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person:
(1) is justified in using deadly force; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony.”
It can be scientifically and objectively quantified that the Trump regime has been a bigger threat to America than Antifa ever has been.
Trump has failed in making America great again.
Trump has made America worse.
If you get a big white dog, you can keep the foxes away from your penguins.
Probably acquitted.
It’s not as if he strangled three children.
This is–or should be–pretty much an open-and-shut case, very much against Mr. Pickens. He was safe in his residence, yet chose to leave the safety of his home to confront the alleged criminal, upon which he killed him.
No “stand-your-ground law” will ever vindicate Mr. Pickens. He is ABSOLUTELY guilty of MURDER.
Plain and simple.
And you’re not a criminal lawyer right? Never seen the all evidence right? Two rights do make a wrong. Idiot.
Mr Zimmerman had much more than “a claim” that he was assaulted. He was treated at the scene for head injuries from having his head smashed against concrete (walkway?) and he resorted to deadly force when Martin allegedly realized Zimmerman was armed and was reaching for that gun when he was shot.
I don’t know how Mr Pickens case will turn out, but he demonstrated a conspicuous lack of judgement by exiting his house and confronting the man.
Everyone who carries concealed or keeps a weapon in their home for self defense would be very well-advised to obtain USLawShield, or equivalent legal coverage. Then, if there is an investigation of any kind into a firearms-related incident, the person being investigated can (and should) refuse to make any personal statement whatsoever, and refer the LEO or DA employee to the phone number on the USLS card to talk to their attorney. I doubt very much that Pickens would be facing any charges had he followed that course of action. He could (and imo should) also have reasonably claimed to have been in fear for his physical safety and/or his life. He had no way to be certain that Taylor did not have a weapon, and even an unarmed assailant can do a lot of physical harm. If I had to make an assessment based on the facts as cited by Turley, it would be that this shooting was justifiable self-defense, but that Pickens, because of inadequate legal advice (or none at all) is going to suffer for his ignorance of how an armed citizen needs to conduct himself in a society that has come to hold the rights of thugs and felons in far higher regard than those of well-behaved citizens.
#. First blush, the drunk should have been taken to jail and not allowed to roam. He had a criminal history police should have known if checked.
Fences make good neighbors. Knock on the door and I’ll open it. Jump my fence, I’ll shoot if there are stand your ground laws.
Not enough info but try him on the facts of homicide first. Then proceed to defense, self defense. Be certain the jury is appropriate. Gun owning men are appropriate.
Consider revising your course content! It isn’t rhe “privilege” of self-defense, it is the RIGHT! You are (sub)consciously conditioning your students toward an abdication of their rights and giving in to a liberal mindset that would deny us the right of self-defense and our right to bear arms.
Exactly/ Even if the law characterizes it as Turley has cited (possible, ianal) he should make the distinction clear, both in his classroom, and here.
Had a similar experience without getting the opportunity to dispatch a POS. My truck had been broken into three times, the las where they stole my ashtray with its coin content and my CD collection. I heard them and got up, saw nothing then a little later got up and went out to see. I had my pistol and a light, discovered the theft and called the police. The officer told me if I shot the perpetrator to make sure he was in my house. I told him that I kept another pistol in my vehicle and I was in fear of om life not knowing if the perpetrator had found it. Long story short, we followed the trail of receipts from my ash tray to a wooded patch where the officer found a jail ID in the bushes with a blanket. He said he knew who that person was as he had arrested them earlier.
Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six!
8 Ball is Estovir with yet ANOTHER first person account; this one involving the ash tray in his truck.
Who cares ?
Are you disputing the facts claimed in the post ? If so what specifically are you disputing, and why do you beleive it to be false ?
This story is more proof, as if we needed more evidence, that the Left / legacy media play loosely with the facts.
His name is Khadolphee Demarco Taylor, not just Khadolphee Taylor. In fact, he had at the age of 25, a criminal history, one he relished. Thus it is more likely that he died due to evolutionary pressures aka “unfit = eliminated from society”. Taylor didn’t have what it takes to live in society so he succumbed to evolutionary pressures. Follow the science!
On the other hand this is another black on black violence story. Where’s
enigmapredictableinblack when you need him.Indiana man indicted in 2021 Ripley officer-involved shooting
This led the officer to pursue the initial vehicle until the driver, later identified as Demarco Taylor, and the passenger ran from the car in the 300 block of Stardust Drive.
TBI said the officer reportedly fired a shot when the driver displayed a gun. Taylor was shot and apprehended by another officer. He was transported to the hospital for treatment.
A resident inside a home on Stardust Drive was also hit by gunfire and taken to the hospital.
On October 3, 2022, a Launderdale County grand jury returned indictments for Demarco Taylor and Chrishun Taylor…..
Demarco was charged with felony reckless endangerment, felony possession of a deadly weapon, evading arrest, and felony evading arrest – endangering others. His bond was set at $150,000.
https://wreg.com/news/mid-south/indiana-man-indicted-in-2021-ripley-officer-involved-shooting/
At around 2:45 Thursday morning, police responded to reports of a shooting in the 500 block of E Rudisill Boulevard. There, they found 25-year-old Khadolphee Demarco Taylor suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest.
https://www.wane.com/news/crime/coroner-identifies-man-killed-in-thursday-morning-shooting/
Estovir is also Arnold Nordsieck below. And Arnold has a first-person story from his ‘youth in Tennessee’.
Estovir is Estovir
He is also Estovir and uses multiple sock puppets named Estovir
he is a reminder to all that mental illness is part of the fabric of being a Democrat. You’d think he’d realize by now he is a liability to his party. LMAO
Estovir, are we interfering with your job?
Back in my youth in rural Tennessee where rifles and shotguns were as common as axes and pickups, we benefited from early legal and reading lessons through signs mounted on fences and tree trunks proclaiming, “No Trespassing”. We learned which farms we could safely cross and which ones were best to detour around. One farmer, presumably to help the illiterate but curious Tennessee youth, spelled out his hand lettered warning, “No Trust in Passing”. I got the message.
“we benefited from early legal and reading lessons through signs mounted on fences and tree trunks proclaiming, “No Trespassing””
Several farmers where I grew up took a somewhat nuanced approach to discouraging juvenile trespassers (there was very little violent crime for them to fear). They kept shotguns at hand, but those were loaded with salt rock instead of lead pellets. That was not lethal under nearly any circumstance, but being shot in the butt with salt pellets while running away definitely left a long lasting impression, and imparted a strong lesson to anyone on the receiving “end”.