AJSully421 wrote:Your key phrase, and try to say it with as little sarcasm as you can muster in the moment, is:
"Sorry 'bout that."
"Hey, you Texans think you can do whatever you want!" "Sorry 'bout that."
"Hey, this area is for boatin', not whatever you's a doin" "Sorry 'bout that."
Hey, your dog just peed all over my $1,000 boots" "Sorry 'bout that."
Then you can honestly reply in court: "Well, I told that feller that I was sorry, and then he pulled a pistol and I had to shoot him to get him to stop."
It goes over better than "I told him to shut his facial orifice and he pulled a pistol..."
And after all, you are on his "turf" so to speak. Who do you think a jury would believe, a local or an out of stater? You did not see a weapon, he was, by your admission had just backed his boat in the water. Perhaps he was getting a life jacket or the boat keys or cell phone had fallen into the floor. There are a million what ifs. But the biggest what if is what if he had continued to move as he was, you shoot him at that point and it WAS as cell phone. The key is to be ready and aware. Now. if he raises up and you clearly see a weapon, all things change at that point.