Another off body carry incident, with a twist
The incident occurred in September of 2016. The shooter was convicted of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm at a bench trial in November of 2017. This month, the Appellate Court reversed his conviction. He’s been in prison ever since his arrest.
Bottom Line Up Front:
A woman invites a man she’s never met in person over for sex. While they are in the midst of the act, her boyfriend shows up. The naked man grabs his pistol from under the bed and shoots the boyfriend because the man feels threatened. He is eventually arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to prison. Four years later, his conviction is reversed on appeal.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROBERT D. WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.
https://courts.illinois.gov/R23_Orders/AppellateCourt/2020/3rdDistrict/3180189_R23.pdf
Although the case has some lurid traits, it’s also very interesting from both the legal and tactical perspectives. I’m summarizing it on my Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/TacticalProfessor but the Appellate ruling provides a lot of detail you can read for yourself.
As always, should you or your loved ones be interested in learning to use your equipment better during the American Insurgency, my books are available at the menu at the top of the page.
Reasonableness and Stopping the threat
“While [Appellant’s] belief may have been real to him, it was not reasonable and therefore the use of force used by [Appellant] was not justified.”
That distinction is lost on many people, to their legal peril. Just because someone thinks they’re in danger of serious bodily injury or death doesn’t mean the court is going to accept that state of mind. State of mind has to be reasonable. “In fear for my life,” a subjective test, has become something of a mantra but in the absence of other objective factors, it may be unreasonable.
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