Wow this podcast blew me away!
Spencer had a malicious neighbor who after a string of bad events ambushed and attacked him. Spencer drew his firearm and shot and killed his attacker. He was charged with 1st and 3rd Degree murder, and manslaughter, and spent 9 months in solitary confinement before being acquitted.
He went through hell, and really experienced bad justice with an over-zealous DA looking to make an example of him. Still after all of this he has some regrets, but none of them include defending his own life.
Give it a listen, its really powerful. Also makes me really want to join the Armed Citizens’ Legal Defense Network. I really should do that.
Also this shows exactly why I carry a gun everywhere I go, but REALLY don’t want to shoot anybody EVER, and will be happy to live a long life without ever having to fire a shot to defend my, or anybody else’s life. Still sometimes you aren’t given that choice. Spencer’s case is hardly the worst case scenario, but even the best case where the police recognize you as the defender quickly is still not a great day to have.
I havent listened to it yet, but i got sucked in for an hour reading the newspaper articles about it. It’s amazing how the press depicted the events vs. how court testimony went.
Press account: Dude drove off, then came back, got out of his car, and shot the guy after an argument.
Testimony: Dead guy had been harassing shooter for years, vandalizing his property and even skinned the dude’s girlfriend’s rabbit. Dead guy confronted dude that morning, and when dude drove off, dead guy said he was going to hang dude’s dogs from the tree while he was gone. That’s when he stopped the truck and got out.
After reading the pre-trial articles *I* was ready to convict the guy. It’s amazing what they choose to not report, isn’t it?
Oh man, I remember reading about this case too! He wasn’t specific about the threats and vandalism. Man the press sucks!
I remember when I thought George Zimmerman was a murderer too…
Selection bias, in-curiosity, DK-effect, peer pressure, and credulity are a hell of a combination.
And that’s before getting into political axe-grinding and blood dancing.
Yup, and the Zimmerman case reinforces that point (though it’s an extreme example). The police and the DA recognized him as the defender early on, but the press and the governor decided that Zimmerman had to hang, and the circus of lies began!
Yeah that too, but I’m talking about those cases where we read about and old woman shooting a “frequent Flier” in the back of a cruiser, and the police at the scene say “Woah, looks like somebody finally killed Mookie! Nice grouping too, m’am!” And even don’t bother to take the shooter into custody for further questioning.
Even that seems like it would be hell for just about anybody.