CO: Man charged with attempted murder for shooting at crooks

[seamusTX]

Wheat Ridge, Colorado (Denver suburb) --

Legal analyst Dan Recht said he believes the Jefferson County District Attorney is "seriously overcharging" a Wheat Ridge homeowner, accused of attempted first degree murder for shooting at two thieves.

An elderly man shot at thieves who tried to run him over while stealing his trailer is charged with 12 felony counts including attempted murder.

The thieves, one of whom confessed, have not been charged.

http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-elderly-m ... 2691.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The next Joe Horn. You heard it here first.

- Jim

[Beiruty]

messed up. Can't be! Illegals and have more rights then the home owner? Why in the world those illegals were not deported?

[seamusTX]

This story has not picked up "traction" yet.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-theives-f ... 1586.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

Denver, Boulder and Greeley, CO are all about 5,000 feet higher than San Francisco, the city by the bay,

[Texas Size 11]

This moron should lose his job for these shennanigns....

[joe817]

This moron should lose his job for these shennanigns....

.

No kidding! That is absolutely unbelievable...and disgusting. The DA has everything turned completely around.

I'll bet the good citizens of that city are closely following this, and will remember this idiot's action at election time.

Thanks for sharing seamusTX. Please keep us updated on this.

[seamusTX]

DA is a county-wide elected position. Maybe the "good citizens" of that county think that thieves should not be faced with job hazards in their chosen profession. There was a lot of that kind of sentiment expressed around the Joe Horn incident.

Someone with time on his hands can look into this DA's record. I'm too busy at the moment.

- Jim

[Texas Size 11]

This moron should lose his job for these shennanigns....

.

No kidding! That is absolutely unbelievable...and disgusting. The DA has everything turned completely around.

I'll bet the good citizens of that city are closely following this, and will remember this idiot's action at election time.

Thanks for sharing seamusTX. Please keep us updated on this.

How gun friendly is Colorado? I lived there when I was a kid and I remember being very liberal when I visited last time.

[Oldgringo]

Texas Size 11 asked:

How gun friendly is Colorado? I lived there when I was a kid and I remember being very liberal when I visited last time.

Like Texas, there is the state and then there is Houston and Austin, etc. Denver, Greeley and Boulder are to Colorado as Austin is to Texas.

Did I mention that Colorado is an open carry state? Give it a try in the cities and see what happens.

[ClarkLZeuss]

To contact the DA who prosecuted the homeowner and not the criminals:

Contact Form:
http://www.co.jefferson.co.us/da/da_T99_R94.htm

Email:
swstorey@comcast.net

[seamusTX]

Alleged crooks arrested (finally):
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15481877" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx? ... &catid=339" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As details emerge, it seems the man shot at fleeing crooks. That kind of thing is illegal in most states. (I don't make the laws, so don't flame me.)

http://www.examiner.com/x-7039-Denver-L ... f-property" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[seamusTX]

The defender in this case ultimately pled to felony charges and was sentenced to probation.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/25 ... etail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As a result he lost his right to own a firearm.

One of the two suspected thieves was severely injured and not competent to stand trial when that article was published (in 2010). The other had been turned over to federal authorities for immigration violations.

- Jim

[Purplehood]

I grew up in Aurora. The City and County of Denver is a liberal bastion in a conservative state.

As I understand it, and I could be wrong, Colorado seems to have a different policy on how its Gun Laws are enacted which varies from County to County. What might be acceptable in Garfield County (on the Western Slope) may not be in Denver or Jefferson Counties.

[seamusTX]

In some states, local governments can fiddle with felony-level laws. We are very fortunate that way in Texas. Municipalities have very little leeway with criminal law. They can only make some things like spitting and littering into class C misdemeanors.

It is worth noting that you can know Texas law inside out and be clueless about local law in another state. Also the attitudes of prosecutors and juries are all over the place.

- Jim

[RoyGBiv]

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said, "It is illegal to shoot someone who is stealing your property."

From: http://www.denvergov.org/portals/326/do ... cwinfo.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

18-1-706 Use of Physical Force in Defense of Property
A person is justified in using reasonably and appropriate physical force upon another person when and to the
extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to prevent what he reasonably believes to be an attempt by the
other person to commit theft, criminal mischief, or criminal tampering involving property, but he may use deadly
physical force under these circumstances only in defense of himself or another as described in section 18-1-704.

18-1-704 Use Of Physical Force In Defense Of A Person
1. Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a person is justified in using physical force
upon another person in order to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use
or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and he may use a degree of force which he
reasonably believes to be necessary for that purpose.
2. Deadly physical force may be used only if a person reasonably believes a lesser degree of force is
inadequate and:
a) The actor has reasonable grounds to believe, and does believe, that he or another person is in imminent
danger of being killed or of receiving great bodily injury; or
b) The other person is using or reasonably appears about to use physical force against an occupant of a
dwelling or business establishment while committing or attempting to commit burglary as defined in sections 18-
4-202 to 184-204; or
c) The other person is committing or reasonably appears about to commit kidnapping as defined in section 18-
3-301 or 18-3-302, robbery as defined in section 184-301 or 184-302, sexual assault as set forth in section 18-3-
402 or 18-3-403, or assault as defined in sections 18-3-202 or 18-3-203........

There you go..

I believe TX is unusual in allowing use of deadly force in protection of movable property. Not unique, but in the minority.