The man accused of firing the first shots at the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs’ parade told authorities he felt threatened, while another said he pressed on the trigger as someone was shooting at him, according to legal documents.
Experts believe that although the shooting left one person dead and about 20 others injured, Lyndell Mays, who is 23, and Dominic Miller, who is 18, could claim self-defense under the lawi « stand your ground » — which states that a person may use reasonable force in self-defense when he or she reasonably believes he or she is under threat — in effect in Missouri.
Missouri is one of about 30 U.S. states that have adopted one or another version of this law over the past two decades, said Robert Spitzer, a professor emeritus of political science at the State University of Texas. New York, whose research focuses on the laws and principles governing gun control. If the first versions of the law allowed Americans to plead self-defense when they felt threatened at home, the new version is more permissive, since it applies regardless of location.
So the shooting that broke out at the Chiefs parade could be a new test for this overhaul of the law. The test comes as another case of self-defense in connection with a shooting makes headlines in Kansas City, in which Ralph Yarl was injured.
“It dramatically illustrates the fundamental problem, especially during public demonstrations where thousands and thousands of people come together, and even a highly trained police officer could sometimes injure individuals in a shootout in a public place,” he said. Spitzer, who wrote the book ‘‘Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights‘.
Attorney Daniel Ross described the ‘stand your ground’ law as a “tremendous defense” for him and his Kansas City defense colleagues, and it should in principle apply in the Mays and Miller cases, according to him. He said the law places the burden on prosecutors to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that a shooting broke out without any reason for self-defense.
“Collateral damage under Missouri law is justifiable if you were faced with a case of self-defense and other people were injured,” he explained.
2024-02-27 18:50:13
#NFL #Missouri #law #protect #shooters #Chiefs #parade
