From http://www.sltrib.com/10302000/utah/38168.htm
for discussion purposes only.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Homicide Justifiable? It's Up to the Prosecutor
Monday, October 30, 2000
BY KEVIN CANTERA, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Early on a Sunday morning in May, a frenzied man smashed through the heavy glass of a sliding door at a Salt Lake City home. As he lunged toward a woman inside, the homeowner, a 51-year-old man, fired four shots from a handgun and the intruder fell dead.
Four months later, just after midnight on Sept. 5, two men argued furiously on a front yard in Magna. Twenty-one-year-old Ryan Brady fired a handgun; the other man fired back with a sawed-off shotgun, killing Brady.
And four days after that, just six blocks away, Jerry Jacobsen, 38, reportedly threatened to beat his wife with a hammer. He was killed by a single shot from a 9 mm handgun fired by the woman's 19-year-old son.
Based on reports from investigators and prosecutors, Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom deemed two of the deaths justifiable homicide, and likely will make the same call on the third. But members of the dead men's families wonder how such decisions are made, and whether they ought to receive a public hearing so all involved understand the facts and the process.
In Utah, however, the final decision rests with county prosecutors. State law allows the use of deadly force to defend one's own or another person's life against an attacker's "imminent use of unlawful force."
In some states, whenever a person dies at the hands of another an inquest is convened in which a judge, a magistrate or a jury examines the evidence to decide in public whether the killing was justified.
Yocom said he views his responsibility in determining justifiable homicide as a "serious duty . . . I do not have any problem making that kind of decision . . . the system works and the procedures that we employ are sound."
But such assurances are not completely convincing to Brady's and Jacobsen's families. "They are saying that my son shot first and so the other guy had a right to kill him," said Lex Brady, Ryan Brady's father. "But how do I know? I have no way of being sure."
The gunfight began as an argument between Brady and 18-year-old Jerason Kupfer just after midnight in front of Kupfer's Magna home, said Yocom.
Kupfer's sister reportedly told her brother that Brady assaulted her earlier that night. When Brady arrived in the neighborhood later with a group of friends, she ran out to his car and cautioned him that her brother was angry and armed with a shotgun. "Brady disregarded the warning. He was armed with a handgun and continued toward [Kupfer], " Yocom said. Brady reportedly fired three shots from a handgun and was hit by a single blast from the shotgun. A pellet pierced his heart.
Lex Brady mourns his son and laments the circumstances that led to the confrontation on that Magna sidewalk. "My kid was wrong . . . and I do not try to defend him," Brady said. "But you do not kill somebody with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and then call it justified."
Brady also remains unconvinced that Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators collected all the facts about his son's death. He said neighbors who witnessed the shooting told him they never were questioned.
Although he would not comment on the extent of the probe, Salt Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Jerry Townsend confirmed the investigation into Ryan Brady's death has been completed and forwarded to the district attorney's office. He also verified that the blast that killed Brady was fired from an illegal sawed-off shotgun.
Yocom said he has not yet made a final ruling on the case but his office "most likely will rule it justifiable and self-defense.
"[Brady] was shooting when he was struck," Yocom said. "Lethal force was justified." He added the case has not been considered for an illegal weapon charge, but prosecutors will do so if detectives ask them to.
The death of Cliff Jacobsen's brother Jerry, who died Sept. 9 when his wife's son shot him, was ruled justifiable homicide Oct. 5, Yocom said. Jacobsen learned of the decision when contacted by The Salt Lake Tribune last week. "It is the first I have heard of it," Cliff Jacobsen said. "I would like to know how they decide something like that."
Jerry Jacobsen reportedly threatened to beat his wife of three months with a hammer outside of their Magna home, pounding on the hood of her car with the tool before going after her. That's when her son, Brett Hancock, killed Jacobsen.
When police arrived, Hancock reportedly admitted to the shooting and turned over the weapon. "That would be a bad position," Cliff Jacobsen said. "To think you would have to kill a man to defend your mother or yourself, I cannot hold anything against the kid."
Still, Jacobsen suggested that a jury trial would reveal all the facts. "A trial would bring everything out and maybe would bring some kind of help for this kid," he said. "The boy has got to be devastated, and I do not know if a ruling like justifiable homicide will help."
Lex Brady also wishes the events surrounding his son's death could be heard by a jury. "If a jury says he had a right to do what he did, I could live with that," Brady said. "But to just walk away from the facts and say that it is justified? To just sweep it under the carpet? That is wrong. That is no kind of justice."
Yocom, however, suggested Brady does not understand the process. "It would be an unfair system to charge someone with a crime when we do not have a reasonable expectation that they will be convicted. . . . We have an ethical obligation not to put the defendant through it and not to overburden the system ," Yocom said.
"We look at every case from a standpoint of what the law says and what we believe a reasonable jury would do with the facts."
The Utah law regarding justifiable use of deadly force reads: "[A] person is justified in using force intended or likely to cause death . . . only if he or she reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or a third person."
But Yocom warns that any use of deadly force will be closely scrutinized and carries the potential for criminal charges. He also worries that publicized cases of justifiable homicide will lead to citizens taking the law into their own hands.
"We have to worry about vigilantism,"
Yocom said. "We want people to settle disputes in an orderly way. . . . Violence is not the answer." [/quote]
for discussion purposes only.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Homicide Justifiable? It's Up to the Prosecutor
Monday, October 30, 2000
BY KEVIN CANTERA, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Early on a Sunday morning in May, a frenzied man smashed through the heavy glass of a sliding door at a Salt Lake City home. As he lunged toward a woman inside, the homeowner, a 51-year-old man, fired four shots from a handgun and the intruder fell dead.
Four months later, just after midnight on Sept. 5, two men argued furiously on a front yard in Magna. Twenty-one-year-old Ryan Brady fired a handgun; the other man fired back with a sawed-off shotgun, killing Brady.
And four days after that, just six blocks away, Jerry Jacobsen, 38, reportedly threatened to beat his wife with a hammer. He was killed by a single shot from a 9 mm handgun fired by the woman's 19-year-old son.
Based on reports from investigators and prosecutors, Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom deemed two of the deaths justifiable homicide, and likely will make the same call on the third. But members of the dead men's families wonder how such decisions are made, and whether they ought to receive a public hearing so all involved understand the facts and the process.
In Utah, however, the final decision rests with county prosecutors. State law allows the use of deadly force to defend one's own or another person's life against an attacker's "imminent use of unlawful force."
In some states, whenever a person dies at the hands of another an inquest is convened in which a judge, a magistrate or a jury examines the evidence to decide in public whether the killing was justified.
Yocom said he views his responsibility in determining justifiable homicide as a "serious duty . . . I do not have any problem making that kind of decision . . . the system works and the procedures that we employ are sound."
But such assurances are not completely convincing to Brady's and Jacobsen's families. "They are saying that my son shot first and so the other guy had a right to kill him," said Lex Brady, Ryan Brady's father. "But how do I know? I have no way of being sure."
The gunfight began as an argument between Brady and 18-year-old Jerason Kupfer just after midnight in front of Kupfer's Magna home, said Yocom.
Kupfer's sister reportedly told her brother that Brady assaulted her earlier that night. When Brady arrived in the neighborhood later with a group of friends, she ran out to his car and cautioned him that her brother was angry and armed with a shotgun. "Brady disregarded the warning. He was armed with a handgun and continued toward [Kupfer], " Yocom said. Brady reportedly fired three shots from a handgun and was hit by a single blast from the shotgun. A pellet pierced his heart.
Lex Brady mourns his son and laments the circumstances that led to the confrontation on that Magna sidewalk. "My kid was wrong . . . and I do not try to defend him," Brady said. "But you do not kill somebody with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun and then call it justified."
Brady also remains unconvinced that Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators collected all the facts about his son's death. He said neighbors who witnessed the shooting told him they never were questioned.
Although he would not comment on the extent of the probe, Salt Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Jerry Townsend confirmed the investigation into Ryan Brady's death has been completed and forwarded to the district attorney's office. He also verified that the blast that killed Brady was fired from an illegal sawed-off shotgun.
Yocom said he has not yet made a final ruling on the case but his office "most likely will rule it justifiable and self-defense.
"[Brady] was shooting when he was struck," Yocom said. "Lethal force was justified." He added the case has not been considered for an illegal weapon charge, but prosecutors will do so if detectives ask them to.
The death of Cliff Jacobsen's brother Jerry, who died Sept. 9 when his wife's son shot him, was ruled justifiable homicide Oct. 5, Yocom said. Jacobsen learned of the decision when contacted by The Salt Lake Tribune last week. "It is the first I have heard of it," Cliff Jacobsen said. "I would like to know how they decide something like that."
Jerry Jacobsen reportedly threatened to beat his wife of three months with a hammer outside of their Magna home, pounding on the hood of her car with the tool before going after her. That's when her son, Brett Hancock, killed Jacobsen.
When police arrived, Hancock reportedly admitted to the shooting and turned over the weapon. "That would be a bad position," Cliff Jacobsen said. "To think you would have to kill a man to defend your mother or yourself, I cannot hold anything against the kid."
Still, Jacobsen suggested that a jury trial would reveal all the facts. "A trial would bring everything out and maybe would bring some kind of help for this kid," he said. "The boy has got to be devastated, and I do not know if a ruling like justifiable homicide will help."
Lex Brady also wishes the events surrounding his son's death could be heard by a jury. "If a jury says he had a right to do what he did, I could live with that," Brady said. "But to just walk away from the facts and say that it is justified? To just sweep it under the carpet? That is wrong. That is no kind of justice."
Yocom, however, suggested Brady does not understand the process. "It would be an unfair system to charge someone with a crime when we do not have a reasonable expectation that they will be convicted. . . . We have an ethical obligation not to put the defendant through it and not to overburden the system ," Yocom said.
"We look at every case from a standpoint of what the law says and what we believe a reasonable jury would do with the facts."
The Utah law regarding justifiable use of deadly force reads: "[A] person is justified in using force intended or likely to cause death . . . only if he or she reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or a third person."
But Yocom warns that any use of deadly force will be closely scrutinized and carries the potential for criminal charges. He also worries that publicized cases of justifiable homicide will lead to citizens taking the law into their own hands.
"We have to worry about vigilantism,"
Yocom said. "We want people to settle disputes in an orderly way. . . . Violence is not the answer." [/quote]