5.09.2012

Trial Update



I sat through the reading of the "court's charge" (the instructions and law the jury receives from the judge) and, man, was it long. Not only were there a million definitions in it, but there was also the law of self defense, reasonable use of force for disciplining a child, and . . . wait for it . . . The Castle Doctrine.  And that became a big part of the defense for the Aggravated Assault case where an adult male is the alleged victim.

First time a jury has ever even considered the Castle Doctrine in Wise County. (And I doubt that the legislature really thought it would be used, in the words of the defense attorney, in a case "involving a couple of drunks," and where the old saying, "some people just got it coming to them" might apply.)

Edit: Guy was found guilty on all three charges (three victims).