Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
That's a self defense argument. If the defense position was I feared for my wife's life therefore I had the gun pointed at him and it went off. We could have a discussion around self defense laws. That isn't what was presented as the defense so on the manslaughter charge it's still he admitted to unlawfully using a weapon and it went off.
I don't see though how hangfire is a defense of manslaughter without using self defense as part of it which the defense did not.
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I think there would have to be an element of carelessness demonstrated when using the gun in order to get a manslaughter conviction. It's not illegal to use a gun in this case, to fire warning shots or to point it at the people who are threatening you. None of that is illegal in this case. In reality, the facts support the theory that he was responsibly using the gun. He only loaded three bullets. He fired two warning shots and attempted to fire a third. He didn't pursue anyone even after one of them punched his wife. So were his actions careless? The answer comes down to do you believe he pulled the trigger several times to clear the weapon and did the weapon malfunction?