Colorado' s Make My Day law

BenGarrett · 11-12-2003, 06:17 AM

Anyone heard about the Denver guy that shot another guy through his front door.

Seems there was an argument over a dog. One man goes to his neighbor' s house and is demanding that the man come out of the house. He uses a club to bust out glass in the front door. The neighbor responds by picking up a shotgun he had laying on the kitchen table and shooting him.

Seems pretty open and shut to me. He did what I would have done if I felt threatened in my own home.

I was watching Good Morning America this morning and they were verbally murdering the man. Talking about how appalling it is. They had the dead man' s family on and let them trash the homeowner. Of course the homeowner didn' t get to tell his side of the story.

I' m highly P.O.' d right now. Now these liberal networks are trying to tell us that we cannot defend our own homes??? Oh well, what more can be expected from the likes of ABC..

eldeguello · 11-12-2003, 07:14 AM

A lot of whether you can do this or not depends on the juridiction where you live. In a lot of places, shooting someone who is on the porch and has not yet entered your home and threatened you inside would be considered use of excessive force, and landing you in the hoosegow!. In other states, you' d be a hero!

If you insist on getting your news broasdcasts from the socialist liberal networks, don' t be surprised if they present it just the way you described!!

rem7400 · 11-12-2003, 07:51 AM

That would fall into the hero category in my book. If there is some guy in my yard with a club bashing the windows out of my house I' m not going to wait for him to actually get into my house before taking steps to stop him. If the idiot brings a stick to a gun fight that' s his problem.

Jorgy · 11-12-2003, 08:53 AM

Ault man expresses sorrow for slaying
Dog dispute sparked shooting of neighbor

By Coleman Cornelius, Denver Post Northern Colorado Bureau

FORT COLLINS - An Ault man, freed from jail because of Colorado' s " make my day" law, expressed sorrow Tuesday for shooting and killing his neighbor in a dispute that began with a barking dog.

" I' d just like to express my sorrow to the wife and the daughter of Mr. Hammock and the rest of his family. I know what they' re going through is very painful, and I wish the events of Nov. 2 hadn' t had to have unfolded the way they did," Eric Griffin told a group of reporters one day after he was released from jail.

He nervously delivered his two- sentence statement on the sidewalk outside his attorney' s Fort Collins office, then went inside.

Griffin, 33, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his neighbor, Richard Hammock, 48, who had accused Griffin of wounding his miniature pinscher with a pellet gun because of its barking.

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But Monday, Weld County District Attorney Al Dominguez declined to charge Griffin. Dominguez said the state' s " make my day" law, which allows people to defend themselves against threatening intruders in their homes, protected Griffin' s actions.

Linda Miller, Griffin' s attorney, said her client and his fiancÃ©e were terrified when Hammock came to their house and began " screaming irrationally" about the alleged pellet-gun shooting of his dog, Mojo.

Miller, echoing authorities, said Hammock carried a 3-foot-long, two-by-two piece of lumber, and confronted Griffin while standing outside his front door. He threatened to burn the couple out of their home, would not leave when ordered to do so and finally smashed a windowpane in Griffin' s front door with his stick.

" In a very brief moment, Mr. Hammock, rather than stepping back, chose to take his club and smash the window, and that' s when the shot occurred," Miller said.

Authorities said Griffin shot Hammock with a 12-gauge shotgun through his front door at close range.

Asked why Griffin thought he needed to respond to a stick with firepower, Miller said: " The ' make my day' law makes no reference to whether you meet the threat against you with a similar defense or a greater defense. You can use any force up to and including deadly force."

Miller would not say whether Griffin shot Mojo with the pellet gun that authorities recovered from his home. " There' s no evidence of that," she said.

Dominguez said Griffin would not be charged in connection with Mojo' s wound because of lack of evidence. Miller said the " make my day" law also prevents bereaved survivors from suing to collect damages.

Diane Hammock, at home in Ault with her family and recovering miniature pinscher, said Tuesday that she does not accept Griffin' s expression of sorrow.

" He didn' t have to do what he did," said Hammock, who received her husband' s death certificate earlier in the day. " I don' t accept his apology. This is outrageous."

Hammock, who said she plans to sell her house, vowed to fight against the law that prevented charges in her husband' s death

Jorgy · 11-12-2003, 09:01 AM

Ok, I live in Colorado and pretty much love the Make my day law. Only a few states have a similar law on the books, and I think they all should. That said, this guy as I see it used this law to get off with killing his neighbor.

It' s not like he was just sitting in his rocking chair and an intruder tried to break into his house. He had a feud with his neighbor and the neighbor made the mistake of coming over to his house with a peice of wood. Huge mistakes on both sides, both families are forever changed.

model722 · 11-12-2003, 09:14 AM

I agree with Jorgy this sounds like a pi**ing match that got out of hand. If some guy shot your dog are you going to go offer him a coffee? They where both in the wrong, if he was pi**ed at the dog then he should have called the police, dog warden, etc... This guy that went too the house(with a club) should have done the same, called the police. As Jorgy said this is sad, two families will never be the same.

Vapodog · 11-12-2003, 09:15 AM

None of the reports said if any drugs was found in either of the men.....any bets?

A similar event I' m aware of had a better ending...the (later discovered) drugged screaming neighbor was confronted with a side X side 12 ga at the door....he retreated.

BigBore1895 · 11-12-2003, 10:26 AM

Maybe some law enforcers on here can help me out, but I think the phrase is " better to be judged by twelve than carried by six." The only way to prevent these kinds of things is to do some damage to the Liberals with a BALLOT! I don' t always agree with Republicans on the environment, and sometimes farm subsidies, but I vote that way because I hate Socialism. We need to decimate the liberals in elections until they are just not effective anymore. Get the word out, help in your neighborhood elections, anything, just root out the liberals and VOTE CONSERVATIVE.

Jorgy · 11-12-2003, 10:46 AM

Um, huh?

Any chance you have been up for 3 days drinking Dt Mt Dew and eating chocolate bars BigBore?

burniegoeasily · 11-12-2003, 11:36 AM

Quote:

A lot of whether you can do this or not depends on the juridiction where you live. In a lot of places, shooting someone who is on the porch and has not yet entered your home and threatened you inside would be considered use of excessive force, and landing you in the hoosegow!. In other states, you' d be a hero!

This is true. In most places, use of deadly force is only justified by a clear and present danger. In this instant the man was not in present danger. If the neighbor was to kick the door, the shot would be justified.

Now on the other hand: Some places state that you can use leathal force to protect life, home and property. In this case the man was justified by protecting his property.

Now in both cases, I believe a verbal warning has to be given. At least I think. This is why I alway tell my wife if some one breaks in, scream I have a gun then shoot.