02-17-2014, 09:29 AM
(02-17-2014, 06:06 AM)Duchess Wrote: I think it's a very bad idea to ask a jury to determine the reasonableness of a defendant's fear.
It's tricky with any self-defense laws, but especially the ones where the burden is on the prosecution to disprove the claimed mindset of the defendant - like in Florida.
If you're on a jury where the burden is to determine whether the defendant acted in accordance with what a "reasonable person" would believe/do, it's less subjective. IMO.
I think it's quite possible that 12 people, regardless of their own proclivity for fear, could agree on whether a reasonable person would approach a car full of teens and tell them to turn their music down at a public place where the defendant would only be for a matter of minutes anyway. And, whether it was reasonable for the defendant to approach the car and ask the victims if they were talking amongst themselves about him, rather than just finish his business and leave. And, whether it was reasonable for the defendant to go to his car, retrieve a gun, prepare and shoot at a car full of kids rather than put the car in reverse, pick up his chick, and move along - even if he thought he saw a weapon. And, whether it was reasonable to be in mortal fear at all given all of those circumstances and options. And, whether it was reasonable to believe the boys had a gun but never returned fire when they were shot at multiple times, and to keep shooting at them. And whether it was reasonable for the defendant to flee and never call police if he thought he was justified in opening fire and there was a gang of killers on the loose...
But, in this case, with the legal statutes in play, even if everyone on the jury agreed that the defendant's stories and actions were not those of a reasonable person, they might still find it very difficult to reach a unanimous consensus that the defendant was lying about being in reasonable fear for his life, in HIS own mind, at the time he decided to the pull the trigger. That's where I think the law is flawed.