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Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!
Wouldn't pointing a gun at somene's head in this situation have to be lawful? That's kind of what a reasonable, normal person would do in a self defense situation. It comes down to believing or not the malfunction of the gun. Do you believe he pulled the trigger several times and took the clip out or not?
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If you read the excerpts from the judges jury instruction the question around the manslaughter charge is carelessness as compared to a typical person in that situation.
Quote:
If you have a reasonable doubt that Mr. Stanley’s use of the firearm showed a marked departure from the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in the same circumstances or that Mr. Stanley took reasonable precautions to live up to that standard of care this element has not been proven.
[...]
The elements of careless use and lawful excuse are somewhat intertwined. Mr. Stanley says that he thought that there were only two bullets in the magazine. He says that he thought that he had fired all rounds because he had pulled the trigger multiple times. He said that he thought the gun could not fire with the magazine out. He says that he did not pull the trigger around the time that he approached the grey Escape.
On the other hand, the gun did discharge and the bullet from the discharge hit Mr. Boushie. Should Mr. Stanley have taken more care to ensure the gun was not pointed at or in the direction of Mr. Boushie? Guns are dangerous. You can see the care with which everyone treated the handgun in court even though it was always thought to be empty.
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Self-Defense has nothing to do with it as Stanley claimed he never intended to point the gun at Bouchie.