March 24, 2008

• what a travesty.

  my family is big into news. when we get together, there’s no stopping the amount of intelligent conversation we may have.

  it goes on for hours, and when we finally wrap it up, i leave feeling more informed, and at times, more jaded against the world.

  last night’s point of interest? the castle law.

  according to wikipedia,
  the castle law “designates one’s place of residence (or, in some states, any place legally occupied, such as one’s car or place of work) as a place in which one enjoys protection from illegal trespassing and violent attack. It then goes on to give a person the legal right to use deadly force to defend that place (his/her “castle”), and/or any other innocent persons legally inside it, from violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to violent attack.”

  about three weeks ago, 74-year-old w.c. frosch thought his home was being breeched by two teens at the front of his house.

  he attests that they were looking into his home with the intention to break in.

  without giving any warning, he reached for his gun, told his wife to call the police and shot.

  the gun didn’t fire. that should have been a sign to not do it.

  he shot again. he hit 15-year-old brandon robinson.

  turns out, the second teen, devin nalls, lived next door.

  they were walking to devin’s house from a “welcome home” house party on the other side of frosch’s.

  just walking home. NO INTENT TO DO ANYTHING to frosch’s precious castle.

  devin rushed brandon to his house, where his mother threw brandon in her truck, and drove off to the hospital.

  the truck was hit by a drunk driver.

  devin’s mother died instantly.

  *moment of silence*

  frosch doesn’t see how he caused her death.

  COME ON. if you hadn’t shot the kid, she wouldn’t have been in the car to be hit!

  he DID say this, however:

  “i’m very proud that he’s not dead. … i’d imagine that would’ve haunted me.”

  

  proud? you didn’t do anything to be proud of, believe me.

  … in recent days, it has come out that, given the bullet’s trajectory, the boys were several feet away from the home, and WEREN’T EVEN FACING THE HOUSE.

  even with that, he hasn’t been charged with anything, thanks to the ambiguity of the castle law.

  while frosch’s fate will be left up to a grand jury, devin’s mother’s fate is sealed.

  brandon will have to live with the fact that he got shot for doing nothing, and that shot created a chain of events that led to his best friend’s mother’s death.

  a travesty, indeed.

  **read more here, and here, and here. (thanks, dmn for the additional information)

  • 2:14 pm
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