Unintended Consequences

Today a Colorado Springs jury acquited a man of murder for shooting a fleeing person in the back. It was the first test of the "Make My Day" law allowing a person to protect themselves with deadly force against an intruder. In this case, the intruders had assaulted a family and were fleeing the house when the defendant shot at the car. He hit and killed one of the men.

While I do not agree that the defendant got away with murder, he did get away with manslaughter. The man killed was fleeing his home. The defendant was no longer defending himself when he shot the man. I can think of a number of words that could describe the action, vengeance comes to mind. The precedent set in this case is deadly: A person can use deadly force against another after a crime has been committed and the criminal is fleeing. The law states that a person can use deadly force if the shooter believes the other person might use physical force against the homeowner. There are a number of unpleasant interpretations to this law.

It's a case of unintented consequences that, if enforced using the Colorado Springs precedent, essentially legalizes the infamous warning shot in the back.