team for a young man who killed an- other young man in self-defense. The jury did ultimately acquit him on the killing, but he spent roughly two years waiting in jail because there was no bond on the crime he was charged with, murder. The jurisdiction: “gun- friendly” Florida. About a month before this, I was
Mas has been expert wit- ness in shooting cases for over 30 years, and a police officer longer than that. He has found some self-defense advice to be shockingly bad.
in court testifying on behalf of a hus- band and father who shot two people who had come onto his property and attacked him and his wife in the pres- ence of their child. After two hung juries, charges were dismissed. The venue: “gun-friendly” Arizona. A few years ago, I spoke for a cop
who was charged with murder after shooting a man who was lunging at a brother officer with a knife. Fortu- nately, we were able to convince the jury it was indeed a justified shooting, and the jurors acquitted him on all counts. Where: “gun-friendly” Texas. Of course, you’ll also sometimes
How you handle the incident, both during and after, will usually mat- ter more to the outcome than whether your choice of S&W M&P was 18-round 9mm or 5-shot .357.
see the opposite: a proper verdict rendered in a self-defense case in one of the jurisdictions that are usually seen as “anti-gun.” The general at- mosphere in New York City is anti- gun and anti-self-defense, yet in a recent case a man who stabbed two attackers to death in the subway was no billed by a grand jury there because they were convinced the de- fendant had acted in self-defense. In anti-gun Los Angeles, I spoke for a man who had fired in self-defense and the jury agreed, acquitting the defendant of all charges. In another case I’m familiar with, the District Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles de- termined a woman was justified in shooting to death the man who at- tempted to rape her. The point is, you can’t predict
whether you’ll go to trial, or what the predisposition of your jury will be, based on public opinion polls or the mood of the State Legislature. It sim- ply doesn’t work that way. “It Doesn’t Matter What I Shoot Him With.”
It may not matter to you — it may
James Yeager, left, and Mas, in Tucson to testify for a man who fired in self-defense and was charged with Aggravated Assault. Don’t assume it can’t happen in “gun-friendly states” such as Arizona.
62
not matter to me — but we’d be fools to think that it won’t matter to those who accuse us, even if the accusation is a wrongful one. A prosecutor who needs to establish mens rea – mean- ing literally “guilty mind,” which can be either criminal intent or willful, wanton disregard for human life and safety — is allowed broad latitude to do exactly that. In some ways, a plain- tiff’s lawyer in civil court is allowed to reach even further to show you to be in the wrong. We live in a society where much of
the public believes if you own a high- performance sports car, you must be
REALITY CHECK • 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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