AIBU to think this isn’t murder

[AldiAisleofCrap]

AIBU to think this is really wrong. In America four teenagers break into a house , the home owner fires a gun and one teenager dies. The boys age 17 are charged with murder and sentenced to 55 years in prison.
The judge said done one has to be held responsible but surely the teen who is dead is responsible for his own actions.

I 100% think the homeowner should not have been charged but I also don’t think they should have been charged with the other kid’s murder.
I think the people at the start of the thread thought the homeowner had been killed and they had been caught under joint enterprise (a bit like Derek Bentley)
On the other hand I can’t really get worked up about scumbags who break into people’s houses - they destroy people’s lives.

@Wtfdidwedo thanks for the link, that’s the same case.

Were (damn autocorrect)

I find US Law enforcement confusing. Some things you get let off with or 90 days jail time other things thst you think are similar you get 50 years or death penalty.

@LimitIsUp the article doesn’t mention the home owner.
This is from the article , the teen was tried as an adult.

The boy was unarmed, had pulled no trigger, killed no one. He was himself shot and injured in the incident while his friend standing beside him was also shot and killed. Yet Layman would go on to be found guilty by a jury of his peers and sentenced to 55 years in a maximum-security prison for a shooting that he did not carry out.

@ArnoldBee

I find US Law enforcement confusing. Some things you get let off with or 90 days jail time other things thst you think are similar you get 50 years or death penalty.

Yes inciting riots and cops shooting black people is AOK for a start...

I don't particularly agree with the teens being held responsible however.... Surely they know the state laws and still chose to risk being intruders in someone's home. It is a waste of several lives and I feel for their families along with the homeowner who has to live with this.

To be honest I don't blame the homeowner one bit. If you enter someone else's home for your own gain/to do damage to the home or the owner well you deserve whatever happens in that process.

@Wtfdidwedo

US prosecutors may use a felony murder charge to get the rioters at the Capitol last week after a police officer was killed.

Which is why Trump should be facing 5 murder charges.

But it is a truly absurd law and it does nothing to reduce crime.

Hmm from that description Aldi sounds like if it was in this country the homeowner would be in the dock for possible manslaughter because he didn't use 'reasonable force' - he used excessive force on unarmed intruders. Could he not have just threatened them with his gun rather than discharged it? USA seems to privilege property over life

@LimitIsUp article does state the homeowner was unaware they were unarmed. I guess he just panicked but I do think there seems to be a culture that you can pretty much do what you want in the US if someone breaks into your home.

Precisely Aldi - that does rather come across

I quite like that law. It’s an interesting way of making them take responsibility.

Also, if someone breaks into your house you should be able to defend yourself however you see fit.
I’m glad it’s a defence becoming more common in the U.K. too.

Can't you emigrate - you'd fit in better over there

But for the home invasion of all the boys, no shots would have been fired by the homeowner - I think that's the rationale.

I understand the concept of joint enterprise, can be important if for example 2 people kill someone with no witnesses, and when caught accuse each other of being the one that pulled the trigger.

However I have never heard of the law being applied in that way, I do kind of see the logic.

It's an excellent law. You knowingly participate in a felony, someone gets killed during the commission of the crime, even if it's one of your cohorts, you are responsible. Makes perfect sense to me.

@LochJessMonster

I quite like that law. It’s an interesting way of making them take responsibility.

Also, if someone breaks into your house you should be able to defend yourself however you see fit.
I’m glad it’s a defence becoming more common in the U.K. too.

A punishment of some sort may be an "interesting way" of making them take on responsibility rather than a sentence of 55 years at 17.

Definitely would not want US 'justice' in the UK. So much of it in many states is barbaric, racist and inhumane.

It is called "felony murder" because the murder occurred during commission of a felony. The boy died. Even though he was committing a crime, his life is still important and someone must pay.

It is the same if a boy gave his friend a ride to the store and sat outside in the car while his friend went inside, pulled a gun and robbed the owner. Then came back outside and left. The driver of the car is equally guilty unless the actual gun-owner testifies that the driver had no knowledge of the plan to rob or the existence of the weapon.

Out of interest, if the ‘dead’ boy had killed the homeowner, what do people think the other boy should be charged with?
Still a felony murder.

It’s not justice and similar to the joint enterprise laws here, I imagine the outcome would be different if participants weren’t working class or black.
Plenty of white middle class kids take drugs and have brushes with the law but they tend to be given the benefit of the doubt.They don’t end up in jail for crimes they didn’t actually commit.
They should have been prosecuted for home invasion. That was the crime they committed.

"In defense of home and hearth" a person may shoot anyone who enters their house uninvited and refuses to leave -- whether they force their way in or come in an unlocked door. Even if they are so drunk they don't realize they are in the wrong house. This happens frequently, which is why most Americans keep their doors locked when they are at home.

Well it will make people think twice about breaking into homes.

I see the logic.

www.abc57.com/news/elkhart-4-life-after-lockup-blake-layman-one-year-later
He’s been released