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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (801711)	8/15/2014 3:29:11 PM
From: d[-_-]b	Respond to of 1575706

The law always goes back to the "victim/shooters" frame of mind and whether they felt imminent harm. We had a similar case in Seattle with a drunk wood carver. seattletimes.com Birk testified during the inquest that he was initially concerned because Williams showed signs of impairment while carrying a knife. He said when he sought to question Williams, Williams turned toward him with a "very stern, very serious, very confrontational look on his face." Birk told jurors Williams "still had the knife out and [was in] a very confrontational posture" when he opened fire. Williams, a chronic inebriate, had a blood-alcohol level measured during his autopsy at 0.18 percent, above the 0.08 percent at which a driver is deemed legally drunk. During the inquest, two witnesses contradicted Birk, saying they didn't see Williams do anything threatening before he was shot. Birk testified that shortly after the shooting he told a witness, a responding officer and a detective that Williams had not complied with his order to put down the knife. He acknowledged that, at that time, he did not tell them that Williams had threatened him. It wasn't until hours later, Birk testified, that he provided a detailed written statement alleging that Williams had menacingly displayed the knife and "pre-attack indicators." Williams' knife was found folded in the closed position after the shooting. Jurors unanimously found that Williams was carrying an open knife when first seen by Birk. But four answered "no" and four "unknown" when asked if the blade was open when Birk fired.