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Memphis Store Clerk Charged With Murder In Shooting Alleged Shoplifter

HowardBThiname said:
That's incorrect.

In states where there's a "castle domain" you are allowed to protect your property, if need be, with deadly force. In those states, it is also often considered that a person who breaks into your home -- means you harm, so the shoplifting from a store doesn't apply to home situations.
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Well, the Castle Doctrine varies by jurisdiction and generally speaking, various requirements have to be met for it to apply. It does not allow you to shoot someone simply because they happen to be on your property without invitation, etc. I'm not going to try working it out on Lexis, but if wiki is right, TN doesn't actually have a castle doctrine statute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine

Perhaps it's a matter of common law there, perhaps not. But either way, I doubt that it would protect a person for shooting a fleeing shoplifter. For example, one might expect Texas to have a broad Castle Doctrine. But there:

(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:

(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and (2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary: (A) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or (B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery. (b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor: (1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used: (A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; (B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or (C) was committing or attempting to commit an offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B); (2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and (3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used. (c) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the deadly force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this section. (d) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), in determining whether an actor described by Subsection (c) reasonably believed that the use of deadly force was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat.

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 9. JUSTIFICATION EXCLUDING CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY
 
OscarLevant said:
https://jonathanturley.org/2018/04/04/memphis-store-clerk-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-alleged-shoplifter/



I think this is an important lesson to anyone possessing a firearm for self defense. Use it for self defense, for if someone steels your stereo ( do they still have those? ) and you catch them running away with it, don't shoot and kill them, for you will be charged with murder.
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Unless the radio is worth a lot of money, it's after sunset and before dawn in Texas.
 
gulfman said:
Let the thieves have what they want.You have to understand that some people just dont want to pay for stuff.
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Dumb post.
 
OscarLevant said:
https://jonathanturley.org/2018/04/04/memphis-store-clerk-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-alleged-shoplifter/



I think this is an important lesson to anyone possessing a firearm for self defense. Use it for self defense, for if someone steels your stereo ( do they still have those? ) and you catch them running away with it, don't shoot and kill them, for you will be charged with murder.
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Depends on the state and the conditions / situation.

It is stressed in Texas concealed carry classes you only can use deadly force OUTSIDE your home when an imminent threat is made.
INSIDE or home or on your own property....too bad for the thief, no matter what time of day it is or what they might be taking.
We can also chase them down.....within certain limits.

A film I saw showed a purse snatcher being tackled by three men and then wiggling away from them.
As he rises to his feet and starts to run away, some stupid woman takes a shot at him and misses.
Her bullet wound up at a dining area of a Wendy's.
It was not even her purse.
Her macho posed an imminent threat to public safety and she got arrested. As it should be.
Purse snatching is not a capitol offense, and the robber was running away in a public area.
 
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OscarLevant said:
https://jonathanturley.org/2018/04/04/memphis-store-clerk-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-alleged-shoplifter/



I think this is an important lesson to anyone possessing a firearm for self defense. Use it for self defense, for if someone steels your stereo ( do they still have those? ) and you catch them running away with it, don't shoot and kill them, for you will be charged with murder.
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Lesson? well if this is a lesson for anybody how NOT to use their gun, their gun should probably be taken away because they are stupid as **** . . . this should get anybody locked up whether its your stor or home.


a store clerk followed a teenager out of a store after the teen allegedly stole a beer. The clerk, Anwar Ghazali, 28, shot and killed Dorian Harris, 17.


Ghazali never called police after shooting at the fleeing teen. It turns out that he hit him near the Top Stop Shop. The next day the body was discovered. Ghazali was charged with first-degree murder.
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you dont get to peruse outside, shoot them in the back then never tell anybody????:shock:

so glad this nut is being locked up
 
I'm in agreement with whoever it was that said that NOT calling the cops was a factor.
I mean, of all the stupid things a shopkeeper could do, NOT calling the cops is the dumbest by far, ESPECIALLY because you're a shopkeeper, which cops generally tend to side with in most cases.

So, because he expected that this was just going to wind up as a mystery killing, when the cops figured out he was a victim of the shopkeeper, and the DA found out, the **** hit the fan, and his troubles multiplied.

Would he have been in trouble if he HAD called the cops? Perhaps but he made it worse for himself by pretending nothing happened.
 
OscarLevant said:
If you own a gun and are holding it in a store for self defense, you have the responsibility to know the difference between using a gun defending your life, and using the firearm as an offensive weapon, and which is appropriate. in a grey area, you should get the benefit of the doubt,
but taht isn't what happened here, it's black and white.

You dont need to be an expert, we're talking Firearms 101. Every person owning one should have some basic training on these concepts.

In the situation here, the stork clerk ran outside and chased him and shot him. That's an offensive maneuver, no shades of grey, there. The fact that the guy was a petty thief is completely irrelevant though that fact will undoubtedly be considered at sentencing time, and I"m okay with that.

I wouldnt call it 1st degree, maybe 2nd, aggravated assualt, manslaughter or some such, but it was an offensive maneuver, and he wil have to pay a price for it. In short, he had no business having access to a weapon given that he did not grasp a basic concept.
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Fair enough. My post is not particular to this event, however, but more so about the right to self defense in general.
More general comments...
was this a clerk or did he own the store? Did he have previous encounters with the same suspect? Has he been threatened before? No excuses, but somehow I don't think we know the entire story or circumstance that made this man snap. Could be he is just trigger happy and shouldn't even have a gun. I trust the courts will work this out.
 
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