I'd love to be on this jury.

[gridlore]

Just so I could find the dude not guilty, then take him out for dinner.

Store clerk charged with murder

Alameda County prosecutors filed a murder charge today against a store clerk who allegedly shot and killed a man who had robbed and beaten him moments earlier.

Saleh Homran is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on one count of murder with use of a firearm in the Monday death of Terrell Martin, 19, a neighborhood teen.

"He was not in danger at the time of the shooting," Assistant District Attorney Tom Rogers said. "He fired from some distance as they were fleeing. He was clearly not at risk at the time he shot them."

Police said Martin and an accomplice walked into the MA Grocery market at 2401 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland about 10:30 p.m. Monday and began stealing T-shirts.

Homran told police that Martin held him and punched him while the accomplice began taking about 10 shirts. Then both young men fled the building and ran down the street. Homran grabbed a handgun from inside the store and followed them.

"He said he chased after them for about a block and then he shot at them from the distance," Rogers said.

Homran was arrested early Tuesday after giving a statement to homicide investigators and is being held without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. in Dept. 112 before Judge Trina Stanley.

Police have not located Martin's accomplice.

Calls to the market where Homran works were not returned today.

So, the little creeps bust in, beat the crap out of the guy, steal shit then run away. Injured clerk gets a gun and stops a crime still in progress. One less thug in Oakland, and I'm willing to bet the other ganger-wannabe is scared shitless.

Good for Mr. Homran. We need more people like him.

Comments

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

He broke two of the cardinal rules. You are supposed to let the cops kill him. And if that doesn't work or there isn't time, drop a gun (even a fake one) next to the body. You can claim he looked like he was trying to fire on you. Then it is self-defense and you're protected.
As it is, if he gets a reasonable lawyer and jury, he'll probably do ok.

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Don't you see, the presense of an Evil Firearm turned what _would_ have been a mere robbery into a MURDER!!!! And the gun somhow caused the robbery too... :-P

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Of course, I'm not serious, but you _know_ that's how the Gun Control Nuts are going to spin it. In fact, they'll probably go a step farther, and claim that if he hadn't had a gun, he wouldn't have attermpted to resist the robbers at all, and therefore wouldn't havce been beaten as badly. In a fucked-up way, that even makes sense.

[jackwalker.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, if everything was as described, the clerk is guilty of murder. Maybe not murder-first, but still. You can justify killing in immediate self-defense. Killing when you're no longer in danger is a lot tougher.

I imagine a good defense lawyer and a sympathetic jury will get the guy off. But he was being pretty irresponsible, banging away at fleeing targets, at a distance, in the dark.

[jarlsberg71.livejournal.com]

I still say that's manslaughter, his life was threatened, and honestly, who knows if those guys wouldn't have dumped the loot in a holding spot or given them to someone else, and then gone back for more, and beaten the clerk the rest of the way to death...

Likely? maybe, it's reasonable doubt in my mind, he didn't know where they were going, they attacked him, they could have surrendered when the guy hollered stop. I hope he gets a good book deal or something out of this to pay for his court costs.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

Under the law as written, he was in the wrong. In most cases, you're not allowed to shoot at fleeing offenders.

This fact has little to do with the outcome of the trial. The verdict will be based on the truth, which is defined as whatever you can convince twelve citizens of.

Last I heard

[capplor.livejournal.com]

this was legal in the state of Texas.

Re: Last I heard

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

Last time I checked, Texas was still one of only two states that authorized civilians to use deadly force to defend property.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

I carry for a living. This was in fact a murder. The crime is no longer in progress once the attackers have fled the scene. He shot a fleeing suspect in the back ... I'd charge it as voluntary manslaughter, but that's just me.

Like the story of the dog chasing the car, what was he supposed to do if he CAUGHT them? Without training, handcuffs, etc. he was begging to be further beaten up and/or killed.

I have no problem with citizens taking the law into their own hands, but it needs to be done RIGHT -- and I do have a problem with the idea that the law holds citizens much more accountable than police officers.

[jarlsberg71.livejournal.com]

Here's my question... How far away was the guy when he was shot? my thought is a badly beaten clerk's aim is not going to be all that great. It does say Handgun, so I'm guessing he wasn't aiming at a thug down the end of a 200' parkinglot or whatever... I'd be shocked if the theif was more than 75' away. that makes it still in the vicinity IMHO. (which doesn't matter a hill of beans)

[claidheamhmor]

Technically he may be guilty of murder...but frankly, I'm of the opinion that the robbers should have been fair game.

Legal versus Moral versus Practical...

[seawasp]

Legally I think it's pretty clear he's in Murder territory. Unless he had some reason to believe these guys would be coming back and giving him more of the same.

Morally, it WAS still a crime in progress; they were making their getaway, with stolen goods, following an assault. As far as I'm concerned, it was a righteous shooting.

Practically, DAMN, man, I wasn't even allowed to CHASE thieves at all, even still on our store grounds. I had to let them get away. (Though I DID chase one before I was told that I had to let them go, and the look of SHEER SHOCKED TERROR on his face was gratifying to see when he realized that the footsteps gaining on him were NOT those of his buddies...)

Chasing them with a gun? You're just asking for more trouble no matter HOW that goes down. You have to leave it for the cops once the jerks leave your immediate vicinity.