No charges in shooting of accused stalker (IN)

[davepc]

http://nwi.com/articles/2008/01/10/news/lake_county/docc6e7d1ca7dcd2fee862573cc00081d1f.txt

A Hessville woman will not be charged in the shooting death of a man accused of breaking into her home in November and stalking her.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said on Wednesday he was turning down any charges against the woman in the death of Ryan Lee Bergner, 41, considering her actions to be in self-defense and defense of property.

The Nov. 12 shooting of Bergner as he cornered the 51-year-old woman in an upstairs bedroom closet capped a month of escalating terror -- chronicled in a series of police reports filed by the woman -- which included break-ins, vandalism and assaults in her workplace.

...

That fatal Monday night, she was watching television at 10:30 p.m. when she heard a window breaking, and called 911.

...

"I'm so scared," the woman said to the 911 operator, who told her to lock herself in a bedroom until police arrived.

...

"I heard him turn a light on, a hallway light," she told the dispatcher as she hid in a closet, armed with a pistol a friend had given her for protection.

The woman should not of had a gun because her stalker could of taken it away and killed her with it while he was attempting to kill her. She should of just waited for police to arrive and hope they got there before he was done murdering her.


edit: changed state in title

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I would hope there would be no charges

the man was a known suspect by the cops. He had broken into her home and trapped her in a closet. Shooting him was her only option.

[TommyO]

2. Here comes another good show

:popcorn:

[SteveM]

14. Hell, looks like the show's over. Save your popcorn.

[kanrok]

3. Not for nothing, but...

It's Indiana, not Ilinois.

[virginia mountainman]

4. Evidently..

She did not believe the "mantra"..

"They will take your gun away and use it against you" What bullshit the VPC and Sara Brady spread..

[riqster]

5. If the cops had done their jobs, she wouldn't have had to shoot him. nt

[Recursion]

7. It's not cops' job to protect you

I mean, it's nice when they can, and they want to when they can, but self-defense is primarily a personal responsibility.

[riqster]

8. In cases of this sort, I disagree

...there was an ongoing history with this stalker and the cops (and the courts) didn't fulfill their responsibilities.

Were it an isolated attack, I'd agree with you.

[davepc]

10. The police and courts have no responsibilities.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/davepc/4

"...fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen." Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981)


See also the decisions in:

* Riss v. City of New York, 22 N.Y.2d 579, 293 NYS2d 897, 240 N.E.2d 860 (N.Y. Ct. of Ap. 1958)
* Keane v. City of Chicago, 98 Ill. App.2d 460, 240 N.E.2d 321 (1968)
* Morgan v. District of Columbia, 468 A.2d 1306 (D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1983)
* Calogrides v. City of Mobile, 475 So.2d 560 (S.Ct. A;a. 1985)
* Morris v. Musser, 478 A.2d 937 (1984)
* Davidson v. City of Westminster, 32 C.3d 197, 185 Cal.Rptr. 252, 649 P.2d 894 (S.Ct. Cal. 1982)
* Chapman v. City of Philadelphia, 434 A.2d 753 (Sup.Ct. Penn. 1981)
* Weutrich v. Delia, 155 N.J. Super 324, 326, 382 A.2d 929, 930 (1978)
* Sapp v. City of Tallahassee, 348 So.2d 363 (Fla.Ct. of Ap. 1977)
* Simpson's Food Fair v. Evansville, 272 N.E. 2d 871 (Ind.Ct. of Ap.)
* Silver v. City of Minneapolis, 170 N.W.2d 206 (S.Ct. Minn. 1969) and
* Bowers v. DeVito, 686 F.2d 61 (7th Cir. 1982).

[riqster]

11. OK, so why have them at all?

[Recursion]

12. They essentially deter (someone else's) crime by reacting to it

You kill someone, get caught, and go to jail. In theory that deters someone else who might be harboring murderous thoughts.

Also, as I mentioned, they are sometimes in the right place at the right time to prevent a crime. It's lucky when they are, but someone facing a specific threat can't expect them to be there.

[ManiacJoe]

13. The job of the cops is to

protect society (not individuals) by investigating crimes after they occur and arresting the suspects.

However, sometimes we get lucky when the cops are able to interrupt a crime in progress.

[jmg257]

6. Sounds like a good shoot - she should sleep well now. nt

[riqster]

9. I'd have done the same in her shoes. But she shouldn't have had to.

[jody]

15. And she wouldn't if there were no evil people in the world. n/t