Man on trial for shooting car thief

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

I think we can all agree that Mr. Gherlach was defending his property, and should be congratulated for doing so.

No - Tarjak would call that encouraging such killings.

But could he have really thought that his life was in danger? The Police found no gun on the thief, and the windows were dirty, so that seems unlikely, but not impossible.

If anything, the dirty windows adds plausibility to the idea that Mr. Gerlach thought he saw a gun. His view was obscured, and he had to react to what he thought.

Personally, I find it excessive that a simple car thief be killed.

Would you feel the same way if he had been found with a gun?
Does his then "well founded" suspected intention of murder make it "more ok" to have been killed? What if he had been a simple car thief driving toward Mr. Gerlach instead of away?

I'm opposed to the death penalty, but not by a whole lot, seeing as the only people it really applies to are murderers and rapists.

Would you be opposed to it if you were one of the victims? Or had the opportunity to put a stop to it during one of these acts? If you walked around a corner alley to see someone being raped or murdered, how would you react? What if it were you being murdered and you had to "impose the death penalty" to save your own life?

A car thief deserves a good beating and a ticket to the local jail at the most.

So a trip to the local jail? Usually jails only hold people for a max of 30 days. So the most a car thief should get is 30 days and a beating? What if it is - as in the case of Mr. Kaluza-Graham, not the first time?

But, in the circumstances, Mr. Gherlach acted as he saw fit (and proved to be a hell of a shot).

As he saw "fit"? Or as he felt necessary due to a perceived threat?

It's unfortunate that the thief ended up dead, but he shouldn't have turned to a life of crime in the first place.

Amen!