srothstein wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 11:12 am
The weapon is irrelevant to the robbery. Among other things, PC 29.02 defines robbery as if a person threatens the victim or places the victim in fear of imminent injury during a theft. PC 9.42 allows for the use of deadly force to stop someone from from fleeing after committing a robbery.
If the initial police report is correct, the shoot was good.
Thanks, Steve. I stand corrected, then, on the means with which the robber can threaten injury. However, did you look at the surveillance footage in that ABC13 piece? They claim, at least for now, they are the only news outlet that has it. It shows the activity unbroken from the moment Terry enters the store until he ducks his head as he's fleeing. He seems unarmed, never comes within probably 20 feet of either store employee, and never seems to make any threatening or even challenging gesture at all. As soon as Terry is spotted, it seems all he's interested in is running away.
And doesn't PC 9.42 specify qualifications to use of deadly force to stop someone who is fleeing after committing burglary or robbery? Isn't item 2(B) dependent on satisfying the requirements of (3), namely that the property cannot be recovered by other means (in this instance, it's cash-drawer change that does not belong the shooter, belongs to the chain retail store, and presumably can't be over a few hundred dollars),
or that "the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury"? It also looks like item (2) applies to its subitems as well item (3), to wit: "...would be justified...when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary."
In this case, use of force other than deadly force was never possible because the individuals never came close enough to each other even for a nice blast of streaming FOX pepper spray. The initial police report supposedly indicated that Terry "had a sharp object," but from the surveillance we never see him pull it or threaten anyone with it unless he stopped his sprint immediately off camera and turned around to bring a folder or a box-cutter into a gunfight...which it's difficult to believe anyone would be stupid enough to do, especially if you're sprinting away and already have 7-yard+ lead on your heavier pursuer.
We'll see how it turns out in court. But I think Wingers' defense attorney has an uphill battle since the surveillance video both inside and outside the store seems to paint a pretty clear picture.