Man dead in Texas… Self defense or murder… You Decide…

[Elderberry]

Citizen Free Press 11/26/2021
https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/self-defense-or-murder-you-decide/

Mrgunsngear
@Mrgunsngear

Apparently it was a domestic situation of some sort that ended with the use of a #Ruger PC Carbine that killed (according to the news reports) the guy in the teal shirt...

https://twitter.com/i/status/1463941917754941449

[Elderberry]

I vote Murder.

[LegalAmerican]

Looks like a divorce situation and man wants to see his kids, or kid.  He keeps talking about 3;15.  There was no need to bring a gun into this volatile situation.  Now, the kids have no dad, but his ex and new husband...don't have to contend with Teal guy. 

TWO MALES BUTTING HEADS......

[DB]

I vote murder too.

[massadvj]

Definitely not self-defense. The guy in the teal shirt took a big risk getting into the face of a guy with a rifle, I will give you that. But he did not deserve to die. I'd go with second degree murder.

[Elderberry]

I could see 1st deg Murder. He could have already decided to blow the guy away as he went to get his rifle. Unknown history between the 2 guys.

[Smokin Joe]

It sounded like there was visitation for kids involved, and the chap with the gun was not a parent. Likely this issue had surfaced before. But as for self defense, the shooter backed off, went into the house and returned with a weapon. No blows had been exchanged at that point, no need for a gun. The shooter brought it and reengaged in the dispute. Not self-defense, but murder.

As an aside, that could have been handled better all around.

[Elderberry]

Chad Read Shooting: Evidence Supports Manslaughter, Not Justification

Legal Insurrection  by Andrew Branca Saturday, November 27, 2021

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/11/chad-read-shooting-evidence-supports-manslaughter-not-justification/#more-371693

Neither self-defense, defense of dwelling, nor defense of property appear to justify this shooting

Today I’d like to take a look at a shooting out of Lubbock TX that is suddenly getting a great deal of news and social media coverage—the shooting death of Chad Read by William Carruth.

As is so often the case, there is, unfortunately, a lot of confusion about how to understand the use-of-force legal issues in this case, with a great deal of misunderstanding of both the relevant law and how it should reasonably apply to the facts of this case.  In addition, there’s a great deal of weight being put on factors that are, really, irrelevant to a proper use-of-force legal analysis.

So, hopefully, we can bring some clarity of understanding to this event, at least in the use-of-force law context.
Overview of the Facts & Video

First, a quick overview of the facts of the Chad Read shooting. It appears that Read was upset because his ex-wife, at the Carruth home, had failed to deliver their son to Read for his scheduled custody transfer.  While in the front yard, and later front porch, of the Carruth home, Read shouted and postured angrily at his ex-wife.  Carruth ordered the angry Read off his property, a command with which Read declined to comply.

Carruth entered his home and emerged a moment later back onto the front porch carrying a carbine (a pistol-caliber long gun), presumably to attempt to compel Read to comply with his command to leave the property.

The appearance of the carbine instead escalated the confrontation, with Read jumping up onto the front porch, leading to the two men chest-bumping each other.  Read then reached for the carbine, and appears to have used the leverage of the long gun to sling Carruth several feet off his own front porch.

As Carruth came to a back-pedaling stop some 10 feet or so from the porch and from Read, he raised his carbine and fired two shots into Read.  Read dropped like a sack of potatoes, presumably the result of a hit on his central nervous system, and would succumb to the gunshot wounds.

I’ll start by saying upfront that this could very well have been a lawful use of deadly defensive force by Carruth—but also that I can’t make that justified call based solely on the two cell phone videos that have been widely circulating.  Also, I should note that this particular analysis is based solely on what I can see in those videos—as in any use-of-force case, additional information can result in a large change in analysis and legal outcome.

Given that everything discussed in this analysis is based on those two videos, I’ll embed them right here, so as to avoid confusion as to what I’ll be referring to.  One of the videos of the confrontation between Carruth and Read appears shot from the direction of the Carruth home, and I’ll refer to that one as “Carruth from House,” and the other appears shot from a pickup truck in front of the home, and I’ll refer to that one as “Carruth from Truck.”

I should also note that there are essentially three grounds under which the Carruth shooting of Read might be legally justified.

The first is defense of persons, so self-defense or defense of others.

The second is defense of highly-defensible property, in this context Carruth’s home.

The third is defense of mere personal property—here Texas is unique in that it does allow for the use of deadly force in defense of mere personal property under limited circumstances.

Unfortunately, I don’t see evidence in these two videos of Carruth being justified in the shooting death of Read under any of those three legal justifications.

Let’s take a look at each in turn.

Much more at link.