Deron Johnson, 48, a man “with a lengthy rap sheet”, denies that he was trying to rob Margaret Johnson, 59, of her purse and gold chain when she shot him from her motorized wheelchair with her licensed .357 Magnum. Cops grabbed him but he won acquittal at trial and he’s now suing her and the landlord of her Lenox Terrace housing complex in Harlem, asking millions. [New York Post]
More: Scott Greenfield has questions, as does Bill Poser in comments.
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Because You Just Can’t Shoot People…
Grandma Margaret Johnson packs a gun….
You will notice that his lawyer is also suing the owners of her apartment house despite the fact that the mugging and shooting happened out on the street. Looks like the lawyer had to really stretch to find a deep pocket to sue in this case, but stretch he did.
Who needs to grab an old lady’s purse when you can get a lawyer to take her lanflord’s bank account for you?
Bob
Bob Lipton’s comment above reminds me of how in “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, the godfather says “a lawyer with a briefcase can steal more money than a thousand men with guns”.
A little more practice on the range and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. If you are going to shoot, shoot to kill.
Just to play Devil’s Advocate, why did the jury acquit? Could it be that there is something to his story?
Dress that lady up in a nice outfit with a headscarf and wheel her on in to the courtroom. When she says, “Well, I was very scared and feared for me life,” things will probably move along in short order. Of course if the jury were to see that nice picture of her, things could change.
Cases like these were mentioned by the sheriff’s deputies who taught my CCW class as evidence for why we only shoot to kill. If you don’t choose to kill your assailant, you shouldn’t even draw your weapon. Any other use only threatens your own life and property. It is usually wiser to give an assailant your wallet (and let him hurt your dog!) than to kill him, but circumstances vary. An invariant is that it is a bad idea to shoot someone in the elbow.
“An invariant is that it is a bad idea to shoot someone in the elbow.”
However, certain organizations with considerable experience in this area consider the knee a target of choice.
Touché, Bill. It seems, however, that those organizations have different goals than the average carrying citizen, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that they have different methods as well.