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A Georgia man admits to shooting a elderly man with Alzheimer's who knocked on his door at 4 a.m. Wednesday, mistaking him for an intruder. Interpretations of Georgia's stand your ground law could be pivotal.

State and local prosecutors are reviewing whether Georgia's "stand your ground" law applies in the tragic case of a man who shot and killed a wandering man diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the Lookout Mountain region.

Given the dynamics of the shooting, the case could become part of a national prodding around the laws, which were quickly enacted in more than 20 states, including Georgia, after Florida pioneered the concept in 2005.

The laws, which hold that armed citizens have to make no attempt to retreat before shooting at a perceived threat, came into the national spotlight in 2012, after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, by a neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in July after a furious national debate over whether race plays into the new breed of self-defense laws.

The incident in Georgia adds a new twist to the examination of the laws, focusing not on race, but on what kinds of actions qualify as a legitimate threat. During a 2007 symposium by the National District Attorneys Association, concerns were raised that touch on what happened on Wednesday in Georgia: namely, that misinterpretation of clues by an armed person could lead to deadly force being used even when there is no real danger.

For now, the state has not filed any charges against Joe Hendrix, who admits to shooting a 70-something man early Wednesday morning. The man was wearing a light coat and a straw hat in near-20 degree weather when he knocked on Mr. Hendrix’s door at 4 in the morning.

After Hendrix’s girlfriend called police, Hendrix retrieved his handgun and walked into his backyard, where he says he saw the other man in silhouette. After the man didn’t respond to several verbal commands and began walking toward him, Hendrix shot him four times, once fatally.

"In my personal opinion, I believe that [Hendrix] should have stayed inside the house," Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson told the Chattanooga, Tenn., Times Free Press. "Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No."

Ronald Westbrook, the slain man, was clutching a sheaf of mail when police found his body. According to family, Mr. Westbrook had been suffering for two years from Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that affects memory and reasoning. He had been walking in the cold for four hours with his dog before he approached the home, perhaps drawn by a lit porch light, police said.

Sheriff Wilson said it’s a tough case because he knew Westbrook personally. At the same time, he told reporters that Hendrix and his girlfriend plainly felt threatened.

“We feel like at this point that we should proceed cautiously and with an open mind and let the evidence and the law take its place," Wilson told WRCB-TV in Chattanooga. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/1129/Another-tragic-test-for
-stand-your-ground-laws-this-time-in-Georgia

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Sheriff Wilson said it’s a tough case because he knew Westbrook personally. At the same time, he told reporters that Hendrix and his girlfriend plainly felt threatened.

“We feel like at this point that we should proceed cautiously and with an open mind and let the evidence and the law take its place," Wilson told WRCB-TV in Chattanooga.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
The homeowner was ... in his own HOME, at 4am. Where the hell else is he going to retreat to, if not his own home ? Blame him for not having a secret safe room, to further retreat?

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After Hendrix’s girlfriend called police, Hendrix retrieved his handgun and walked into his backyard,

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Originally posted by Oonjerah:
It's not once in a while.
It is every damn day now! Didn't used to be like this.

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Originally posted by Oonjerah:

Marissa Alexander of "Florida sentenced to 20 years for
firing warning shot released."
I thought her sentence was outrageous, & I'm not alone.

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I knocked on my neighbor's door the other night because her
washing machine had gone all rock-n-roll & was trying to tear
down the little shed it occupied. My neighbor was not packing
a gun when she answered the door, and she did not shoot me.
She thanked me.

^^^ That's the way it's s'posed to be. People don't get shot
over an impulse, confusion, a gross mistake or just 'cause
it's night time.

National Insanity as the Norm is Not OK with ME.



======================
* A man's gotta be responsible for what HE does with his gun.

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Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Notice the wording gentlemen - "state and local prosecutors are reviewing"
That means lawmakers in the state of Georgia are looking into it.

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Originally posted by chrisisall:
Let me be controversial here:

There's nothing wrong with responsible folk owning guns, and there's nothing wrong with the so-called "Stand Your Ground" laws.

What's WRONG is how easy it is for a twitchy moron to legally obtain a gun.
Let's go back a little farther:
What's WRONG is treating physical bullying in school like a minor extracurricular irritation and not a CRIME.
Twitchy morons are MADE, not born. They are usually gloriously successful schoolyard victims or bullies. If we teach a small percentage of our population that they're expected to either take it 'till you can't no more or abuse-at-will as a way of thinking, what else do you expect but this kind of nonsense?

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
The homeowner was ... in his own HOME, at 4am. Where the hell else is he going to retreat to, if not his own home ? Blame him for not having a secret safe room, to further retreat?

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Originally posted by chrisisall:
My use of the word "morons" above was probably uncalled for. Sorry.

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Originally posted by Storymark:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
The homeowner was ... in his own HOME, at 4am. Where the hell else is he going to retreat to, if not his own home ? Blame him for not having a secret safe room, to further retreat?

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He could have just.you know, not gone outside. And even if he HAD to, he didn't need to shoot an unarmed man.

But you'll never pass up an opportunity to defend senseless murder.





"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
"What the Klingon says is unimportant, and we do not hear his words..."

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

you will note that the RAPtard changed his OWN story in less than a day. One version was " in his own home". Called out on that , he changed it to " on his own property." That's why I haven't bothered to reply to him. The guy is such a dishonorable, gutless cheat and liar that he won't even stick by his own words. But we all know that...

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Originally posted by Storymark:
He could have just.you know, not gone outside. And even if he HAD to, he didn't need to shoot an unarmed man.

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Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
Exactly - it's not standing your ground if you move to engage, that's called pickin a fight.

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Originally posted by Oonjerah:
he only shot the old Guy 4 times.

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Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:

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Originally posted by Storymark:
He could have just.you know, not gone outside. And even if he HAD to, he didn't need to shoot an unarmed man.

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Exactly - it's not standing your ground if you move to engage, that's called pickin a fight.

-F

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Originally posted by Storymark:
And don't you love the guy's justification

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