Also, dunno Italian law or how much the Guardian reporter knows of it, or whether he wants to hype things. Such inquiries may be mandatory after a killing, and of no more significance than the fact that an American grand jury will inquire into a clearly justified slaying, or an officer is suspended during an inquiry into his clearly justified shooting of a bad guy.
To be fair to the Italian police, it appears (from the last sentence of the Guardian article) that "Investigators are trying to determine whether he inflicted the injuries while defending himself inside the apartment, or hunted down the burglars after they had fled." If *that* is the only "excessive use of force" inquiry, then it's a lot less outrageous -- and less related to self-defense. Frankly, I'm not that troubled about people chasing down fleeing would-be rapists, especially in or very near their own home; the adrenaline is pumping, the danger might not be completely over, and the scum deserve it. But that's a different matter than if the police were going after him for what he did before the burglars fled (still possible, but the last sentence suggests otherwise).
-----Original Message----- From: Peter Boucher [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 11:30 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: The state of self-defense law in the world
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1061686,00.html>http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1061686,00.html
Four home invaders armed with knives tied up �the Doctor� and two females.
Then they ransacked the apartment, but were disappointed with the skimpy loot.
They could have just left after sacking the place, but no� they came back in and threatened to rape the women unless more loot was produced.
Then �the Doctor� slipped his bonds, took away one of the bad guys� knives and went to town. He stabbed one in the heart, one in the lung, and sliced the femoral artery of a third guy (I guess the fourth bad guy got away).
Now �Magistrates in the central Italian town of Empoli are now seeking to establish whether his self-defence constituted an excessive use of force.�
Gah! You wait to see if they�ll just leave after sacking the place, but the four knife-wielding men instead com and threaten to rape the two tied-up women. What�s the world coming to if THAT�s not justifiable self-defense?
On a lighter note:
Three lengths of rope needed to tie up your victims: $5.00
Four knives needed to intimidate your victims and make you all feel like real men: $45.00
The crack-rock you're going to buy after you've robbed the place: $100.00
The amount of money you find in the place: $5.00
The look on your face when the Chinese guy slips his bonds, disarms two of your buddies, takes their knives, and proceeds to expertly and viciously plunge one into your pal's heart, another into your other friend's lung, and slices your third accomplices' femoral artery:
ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!
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