Stand your ground

RicInOR · Oct 29, 2015

Retired cop who shot and killed a man in a theater for throwing popcorn at him will use Florida's notorious Stand Your Ground law as his defense

How long ago was this story ? Jan. 13, 2014

But that a cop is going to trial says something.
Good luck convincing a jury you were in imminent danger from popcorn.

Brutus57 · Oct 29, 2015

Well, the popcorn hurled did have more than 10 puffed kernels.....

Brutus Out

Jamie6.5 · Oct 29, 2015

Hey, it was hot. And it was buttered.
And the cop is lactose intolerant.
And, Oh nevermind.

Joe13 · Oct 29, 2015

Not saying killing the guy was a good idea, BUT when I'm 73 and a dude 30 years younger then me is texting and throwing popcorn or something else at me - I may not be in the physical condition to beat that guy to within an inch of the hospital.

Yea, the shooting was probably wrong "I don't know" - but it doesn't sound like the guy that got shot was a real sweet heart.

albin25 · Oct 29, 2015

To be fair, it needs to be mentioned that as we age it's common to develope certain problems that can vary widely depending on the individual. Some get "twinges" others full-blown arthritis. Eyeglass prescriptions change. Hearing loss is common as are dietary changes and tolerances to cold or heat....
....s0unds like this guy has developed an usually severe case of S.L.O.B.I. (Senior Late-Onset Butthole Intolerance).

Stomper · Oct 29, 2015

Joe13 said:
Not saying killing the guy was a good idea, BUT when I'm 73 and a dude 30 years younger then me is texting and throwing popcorn or something else at me - I may not be in the physical condition to beat that guy to within an inch of the hospital.

Yea, the shooting was probably wrong "I don't know" - but it doesn't sound like the guy that got shot was a real sweet heart.

So let me get this straight... a 43-yr. old man was throwing popcorn at an elderly person?

If you're doing that kind of stuff at THAT age... you get your deserves.

Koda · Oct 29, 2015

popcorn and texting doesnt sound like assault to me.

Sgt Nambu · Oct 29, 2015

LOL!!! Not saying it was right. I wouldn't do it.
But there's no law that says I can't enjoy it!!!

Thought process may have went something like, "This little plic is really annoying, I'm 73 and I have terminal dippladokas! What the heck! Sayonara Sonny!!!

Stomper · Oct 29, 2015

Is that with or without wearing the Depends?

Jamie6.5 · Oct 30, 2015

Koda said:
popcorn and texting doesnt sound like assault to me.

Pouring a glass of milk over someone's head doesn't rise to the level of "assault" either, but someone was charged, convicted, and lost their gun rights over it.

Koda · Oct 30, 2015

Jamie6.5 said:
Pouring a glass of milk over someone's head doesn't rise to the level of "assault" either, but someone was charged, convicted, and lost their gun rights over it.

without knowing the story behind that I have no way of knowing if that story has anything in common with the popcorn shooting. Do you have a link you can share?

Brutus57 · Oct 30, 2015

I think the retired LEO's muscle memory just took over and shooting the popcorn perp was a reflex to threat perceived in the lizard part of the LEO's brain.....

Netflix, my friends....Netflix.

Brutus Out

Jamie6.5 · Oct 30, 2015

Koda said:
without knowing the story behind that I have no way of knowing if that story has anything in common with the popcorn shooting. Do you have a link you can share?

I can't find it now, but it did happen.
The law defines simple assault as touching someone against their will with intent to do harm, of any kind. And that includes pouring something on them, or throwing a drink at them, even sans glass, if they opt for pressing charges.
I'm not trying to defend the cop for shooting someone over low velocity popcorn.
But regardless of what you *think* is okay to throw at someone, don't do it. Unless it's verbiage, and even then,...

Koda · Oct 30, 2015

Jamie6.5 said:
I can't find it now, but it did happen.
The law defines simple assault as touching someone against their will with intent to do harm, of any kind. And that includes pouring something on them, or throwing a drink at them, even sans glass, if they opt for pressing charges.
I'm not trying to defend the cop for shooting someone over low velocity popcorn.
But regardless of what you *think* is okay to throw at someone, don't do it. Unless it's verbiage, and even then,...

Jamie6.5, thanks for clarifying, what you said about the definition of assault makes sense… I learned something, so if throwing popcorn is a form of assault the other party has a right to defend themselves and no one has to put up with bullying and harassment. The problem with the cop is he went beyond the reasonable man standard, as I understand it, that only the minimum amount of force required to stop the threat is justified. I also read (cant find the source) that the popcorn thrower was texting his daughter at home during the previews to check in one last time before the movie started, which triggered the cop to confront the man which started the argument. So if we add everything up it appears to equal murder. The cop started the fight, the cop used lethal force to defend against non-lethal assault (notice I called it assault)… this cop is a bad example of the CHL community and made us all look bad and Im a huge proponent of stand your ground laws but this case is not one of them.

RicInOR · Oct 30, 2015

For those of you you want to use the way back machine, there was video of the incident.

The movie had not yet started; not all the lights were out, so one security camera had an angle and got some of the interaction.

What I will be interested is the SYG part.

Lots of people brought that up with another FL idiot who keeps ending up in the news cycle, yet his case was not one of SYG.

Let us imagine that there was no gun drawn - that it stayed in the holster. Would the retired cop have had enough juice to get mister I'll do what I want as I paid my money to be here charged with assault for throwing the pop corn? I believe that it would qualify under the law, but most likely lives in that area where the prosecutor would be asking himself is this the best use of my resources.

David Bowman · Nov 2, 2015

Not every problem in life is a gun problem; not every problem is NOT a gun problem either.

Perhaps the retiree should have remembered the difference....

And the gentleman hurling the popcorn should have factored in that someone might react this way; as in "ya know! I live in a fee society where someone might have a gun and not appreciate how I acted toward them. Perhaps I should just STFU and watch my movie."

An armed society is a polite society...