You don’t need to trespass or commit burglary. Call 911, that’s what it’s for.
What do you think would have happened if she called 911 and reported that an ex-husband she no longer lives with might have guns in the house?
Follow-up question: What do you would happen to her if the immediate reaction from the police wasn’t to rush in aand search his place, and the ex-hubby got wind that she blabbed?
Yep, she should go to jail.
Hubby should be in jail for a longer time.
If she broke in and stole his TV and porn collection, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. What she stole has no bearing. She broke in, stole his stuff while he was in jail and should be prosecuted.
The question has been asked a few times, if she called 911 and reported he had guns what would have happened?
??? Of course what she stole has bearing. He’d just run her off the road, an action which he knew could kill her. She took away tools that he could kill her with. If she’d stolen something that wouldn’t be handy for murdering her with, of course we’d be having a different conversation.
This wouldn’t have even been posted had she stolen his TV so there would not be a different conversation. She didn’t even try to involve the police until AFTER she broke in and stole his guns. So who knows what would have happened had she?
She knew; that’s why she did she what she did.
If that makes it okay for cop to kill someone with a cel phone in their hand, how does it not make it okay for this lady to do what she did?
Would the police have had any statutory authority under Florida law to obtain a warrant to seize the guns? They hadn’t been used in the commission of an offence and were not evidence of any offence, which are two of the usual requirements for a search warrant to issue.
Is there a more specific warrant under Florida domestic violence law that would come into play?
What in the article leads you to believe that?
Who got killed by a cop?
If she had broke into his place and killed him while he slept, based upon her same fears, would that too have been justified in your mind? Why not? He had already assaulted her with his car, why not steal it too?
Bottom line, if there weren’t guns involved, this would not have raised a single eyebrow on this left leaning board. Proof of that claim? The complete absence of every post regarding domestic violence and stupid decisions.
So is the incensed car-rammer is out of jail and in possession of his many guns? Yikes. The only safe place for her might be jail. Yeah, I know she has a restraining order. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d let a little thing like that stop him.
The fact that she broke in to his apartment, took the guns and turned them over to the police indicates that she knew, or believed she knew, that the police would not do it and there was a significant chance that the man who had just tried to kill her would try to kill her again. Did you not see that part of the article?
That is supposition on your part. Wrangle it all you want, but you have no special knowledge of what she did or did not know.
I’ll ask again, would she have been justified to kill him in his sleep based upon her fear of his assaulting her?
No.
I don’t see any positives to publicly endorsing extra-judicial imprisonment, infliction of pain/torture or killing. I’m kind of shocked that you’d have to ask that.
I don’t know; that’s a good question. Perhaps it was impounded when he was arrested and she deemed it too difficult to successfully break into a locked police auto yard and steal a vehicle from it.
Let me know when you get a definitive answer; thanks in advance for getting to the bottom of that.
Nonsense. I wrote the OP and I certainly didn’t make it about guns. Guns are involved but the point is that she was jailed for committing a crime to prevent her own killing. That is, IMO, somewhat controversial, for a state to place a person in her position.
You can keep trying to make it about guns so you can denounce people who disagree with you based on that, but that isn’t at all what the discussion has been about.
ETA: In fact, had she broken into his apartment to steal his collection of swords to give them to police so she wouldn’t be murdered with them, I am certain I’d have started the exact same OP (except for the words “swords” and “guns”, natch :p).
Bullshit. Simple as that. If this isn’t about guns, we aren’t having this conversation. Where are the other threads about domestic abusers, their stupid decisions, and the lowlifes that make up their ranks? There should be plenty of source material out there from Florida alone.
I certainly don’t agree with Czarcasm about much, and especially guns, but we both have asked the same question, which is what would have happened had she simply called dialed 911 from the guy’s parking lot and explained the situation?
I can’t see why you would have a problem with her capping the guy while he slept either by the way. You have already justified her armed burglary based on what she thought he might do. Both are class one felonies in FL punishable by life in prison.
Woah bud, this is a stand-your-ground state. “A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.” F.S. 776.012 (2018). Other than to avoid imminent death or great bodily harm or imminent commission of a forcible felony, pre-emptive homicide is illegal.
But legally speaking, I agree with D’Anconia. She should be charged for theft and burglary. “Burglary is a felony of the first degree… if, in the course of committing the offense, the offender… *s or becomes armed within the dwelling, structure, or conveyance, with explosives or a dangerous weapon…”. F.S. 810.02(2) (2018). “It is grand theft of the third degree and a felony of the third degree… if the property stolen is… a firearm…”. F.S. 812.014(2)(c) (2018).
The penalties for a felony of the first degree shall not exceed 30 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. F.S. 775.082(3)(b)(1) and F.S. 775.083(1)(b) (2018). For a felony of the third degree the sentence shall not exceed 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. F.S. 775.082(3)(e) and F.S. 775.083(1)(c) (2018).
That being said, without further information I cannot criticize the judge who presumably denied bond within 24 hours of arrest. I think it would be wise for the prosecutors to consider dropping charges or pursuing a misdemeanor instead. This woman has children. Putting her in jail might mean the husband gets custody.
~Max
I got this info from an ambulance chaser website from Florida. It looks Like Max S has better source material than myself. Sorry.
It appears that her husband was in jail while she did this, so there was no immediate imminent threat at the exact time she perpetrated the act. Also, arming ones self while in the commission of a burglary is, in fact, armed burglary. Doesn’t matter if the burglar started out unarmed, or did not possess the weapons in a manner intended to be used. possessing weapons at any time during a burglary is armed burglary.
It appears she didn’t do much to legal get the weapons removed. Speculate all you want, but there is no telling what would have happened had she went to the police or Sheriff with her RO and made an affidavit that she knew he had firearms he could no longer possess.
And how did she know those guns were in there in the first place?
Either way, she wasn’t justified in what she did. She may be able to cite fear as a way to get leniency, but she still had no right to do what she did.
There were other legal things she could have attempted, and other than get a restraining order she didn’t attempt any of them.
She had a restraining order and the guy had just tried to kill her. I don’t think this is a slam dunk at trial. IMO, she handled it as well as she could have. If she had reported it, I don’t believe the police would have taken the guns. She had recent reason to believe the man was a threat to her. Once she removed the guns, she turned the guns and herself into the police.
Obviously, there are people that will believe that she was out of line to do what she did, but I can clearly see it as self-defense. She didn’t try to cause him harm either.
Perhaps people who have restraining orders against them should not be allowed to have guns? If one cannot be trusted not to be violent, then weapons seem contraindicated.
Maybe she’s just aware that restraining orders mean jack shit by themselves.