What sinks the argument that it was self defense is the sequence of events that led up to the shooting.
We covered this about thirty pages before. So let’s cover it one more time since it has slipped your memory.
Self Defense is allowed as a defense against criminal action. However, for it to be valid in the courts, in other words allowed by the Judge, the first thing you must do is not commit any crimes before the use of force. The McMichaels do not qualify. They committed two Felonies before the shooting. Not one, but two. These two criminal actions are what makes the charge for killing Arbury Felony Murder. They were committing Felonies before firing the weapon.
Where who was when does not matter. When and how Abury got shot doesn’t matter. The McMichaels were Felons before the shooting. They were committing Felonies.
This is the case in pretty much every situation where a Heroic RW shooter is held to account. Take the bar owner who committed suicide. Jake Gardner. Jake had a Concealed Weapons Permit, but let it expire. That meant he was carrying the weapon illegally. It is hard to explain that you were totally within the law, and your rights, in shooting someone when you were committing a crime for hours, or days, before hand.
Self Defense laws, like Stand Your Ground, are intended for people minding their own business who are accosted in their homes, or on the street, by hoods with no action to instigate it. The McMichaels were doing anything but minding their own business.
If I am going to the store, and a lunatic comes at me demanding my wallet and keys I can defend myself. If I am chasing the lunatic because I think he is a bad guy despite seeing him do nothing, then I am not minding my own business. Even if he has a warrant out for his arrest, as a citizen I have exactly zero authority to detain him. This guy could be a mass murderer, and all I can legally do is call the cops and say I see the bugger right here.
Why? Because I am not a Cop. Police are empowered through the legislature, and the people, to have greater authority than the average citizen. What is legal for a cop, is completely illegal for me. And that is the way it should be.