You mean the while second worth of video? If you believe that is all of it, then you must be wondering why the news caster and her cameraman were also there and didn't do anything to stop it, too.
Let’s see if I can explain this. If you use deadly force, the cops are going to investigate. They’re going to ask you a lot of questions. You need to tell a story about the use of force, to show it was justified. The cops will compare your story with the evidence. IF you say that the baddie attacked you, there needs to be something to back it up. Defensive bruises, something. Video is good for that sort of proof.
Video is also good at poking big holes in the story.
Now, think this through. Someone threatens you over the phone, and a driver shows up. An UBER driver. You are convinced they are part of the conspiracy. But there is a problem. The driver uses her phone to show you the assignment. If you’ve never used Uber let me explain how it works.
You post for a ride or a meal or whatever. The closest drivers are given the opportunity to accept the job. They are independent after all. When one accepts the job, it pops on your screen that the driver is on the way.
Now, for this woman to be involved, she would have to arrange to be closer than other drivers, and not taking any other jobs that might interfere to accept the UBER dispatch.
Now, maybe the madman who was a shooter didn’t understand that. Maybe he was ignorant. But he wasn’t listening to her explain. I’m operating on the assumption that she was trying to explain to him what happened. Why she was there. He wasn’t listening. Because he was convinced he had a bad guy, or girl if you prefer. That coupled with the video showing him pursuing her, with his gun out, tells part of the story.
The news report tells more of the story, and we are left to connect the dots as to why he was charged.
But in the end, none of that matters as much as the reasons we as a society sanction use of force. We acknowledge and have legislated reasons that use of force are acceptable. The reason is self defense. Or defense of another. From life threatening situations. We call it the reasonable man standard. Even though that was essentially eliminated by law, it is still what we use. We just call it something else now. Would a reasonable person in your situation do the same thing?
If you use lethal force without such justification, you are facing serious criminal penalties.
I don’t know Ohio law. I know Georgia law, and let me explain what crimes were committed by this fellow under those laws. Aggravated Assault. Attempted Illegal Imprisonment. Murder. Felony Murder. In Georgia, if you are convicted of Murder, the only penalty you can face then is Life, or I suppose Death. Normally the penalty is Life, the only question left is with, or without, the possibility of parole. That can’t happen for at least thirty years, should you get the possibility wildcard.
This fellow is in a lot of trouble. It wasn’t a life or death situation in which he employed lethal force. He is going to have a hard time selling the I was afeared for my life. He was armed, she was not, and she was trying to leave.
