How to Get Charged with Murder

In a gunfight, there is a very well defined line between justifiable use of deadly force and murder.

Unfortunately, in the heat of the gun battle you are only going to be half as good and half as smart as you are on your best training day, simply from the stress of a lethal encounter.

As a result, the well-defined line between legal use of deadly force and murder can become quite blurry.

Here is a real surveillance video that shows how quickly you can go from justifiably using deadly force to being charged with murder.

Understand that — universally — you are only justified to use deadly force when your opponent shows the ability, opportunity, and intent to immediately inflict serious bodily injury to you or those around you.

However, you are only justified to use deadly force to stop the threat.

Once the immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death ends, additional use of force is no longer justified.

Watch this very revealing surveillance video that shows a textbook case of justified use of deadly force that turns into a murder charge when shots are fired AFTER the threat has ended.

Then read my comments following these videos.

Here’s the News Media’s take on the shooting:

Here is a video where the prosecutor essentially shows his case to the media.

Please understand that I have explained the universally accepted rules in the use of deadly force and shared this surveillance video with you for a very important reason: I want to help you AVOID criminal charges should you ever need to use your weapon to defend yourself or others.

This case, unless a plea bargain is struck, will end up in the hands of 12 of our peers to decide if a normally law-abiding, upstanding citizen should go to prison for his actions or be set free.

The surveillance video is the key witness because the other store employees were hiding at the time, the other robber had run away, and the unarmed teen is now dead and cannot testify.

However, the jury will likely hear from the man on trial as he explains what was going through his mind and why he felt compelled to get another gun and shoot what appears to be a teenager who was no longer a threat.

The jury, regardless of the letter of the law or instructions from the Court, ultimately makes the final decision in the case as to whether a man is guilty or innocent. The jury will decide if he walks free or not.

The question I have for you is this: After seeing the surveillance video, knowing what you know about the justifiable use of deadly force, AND WHAT YOU WOULD DO in the same situation, do you find him GUILTY or INNOCENT?

When I surveyed our subscribers I found that for every 12 responses, 10 voted for GUILTY and 2 voted for INNOCENT.

Are you surprised?

I’m not. Based on the mock jury trials we conduct in our Criminal and Civil Liability lecture during Front Sight courses, we have never seen a unanimous decision for guilty or innocent.

What this should tell you is that you don’t want to put your life in the hands of 12 people unless you absolutely have no choice but to do so. In this particular case, the pharmacist did have a choice in firing those final shots. As a result of choosing to shoot after it appears the threat had ended, he must now place his life in the hands of 12 of his peers..

Not a good place to be.

I suspect, in this case, the jury’s verdict will be similar to your collective verdict.

The big question is whether the 2 voting innocent will stick to their guns and hang the jury or eventually cave in to the pressure from the other ten.

Again, the educational aspect of this report is that if you can avoid such a situation, you should.

Please have your friends and family sign up for Front Sight’s Free Gun Training Reports Here so they can learn from these examples.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ignatius Piazza
Front Sight Founder and Director
Four-Weapons Combat Master
Your host of Front Sight Challenge Reality TV Series

P.S. Please share this report with your family and friends. If your family and friends would like to receive their own reports, our 12-page brochure, and 90-minute award-winning DVD then please direct them to sign up for Front Sight’s Free Gun Training Reports.

P.P.S. I’m always happy to hear from you, so please email me after you’ve read Gun Training Report #63 Ignatius Piazza: How to Get Charged with Murder … to confirm you are receiving the reports and tell me what you think about the reports so far. E-mail Dr. Piazza.