California homeowner foils home invasion attempt by firing shotgun...

M

mehavey

New member
> Carla, who did not provide reporters with her last name, told MyFoxLA.com
> that she woke up when her dog started barking.
> She said she saw one man in her backyard and another waiting by the car.
> Carla’s 90-year-old mother was also inside the home at the time,
> MyFoxLA.com reported.
>
> Dressed in her nightgown, Carla grabbed her shotgun and fired at the ground
> near one of the suspects.
>
> “Hopefully this is going to tell these guys you know, I’m not a sitting duck,”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/0...nvasion-attempt-by-firing-shotgun-police-say/
http://www.jrn.com/fox4now/news/Cal...topped-by-woman-with-a-shotgun-244243761.html

Being as this describes a shooting outside the home, and without a direct menacing threat, I cannot imagine
the California prosecutors not pursing this. Has anyone local gotten more details on the aftermath ?
 
mehavey said:
Being as this describes a shooting outside the home, and without a direct menacing threat, I cannot imagine
the California prosecutors not pursing this. Has anyone local gotten more details on the aftermath ?
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No problem. If she's charged, she can just use the Biden Defense:

"The Vice President told me to do that."
 
Has anyone local gotten more details on the aftermath ?
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No other reporting on this incident. The LA Times lists a burglary in that location Feb. 1. Chances are that this hasn't even made it out of the low priority in box at the DA's office yet.
 
Being as this describes a shooting outside the home, and without a direct menacing threat, I cannot imagine the California prosecutors not pursing this.
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Prosecutors have varying degrees of discretion when pursuing charges. If a case has a low potential for conviction, doesn't serve the idea of justice, or just isn't going to generate the right publicity, they can pass on it.
 
Tom, I cannot imagine the next nervous man who fires a warning shot into
the ground toward people involved in a property crime -- not pointing to
this kind of 'prosecutorial discretion' and invoking 14th Amendment (un)equal
protection.

Sauce for the goose.... ;)
 
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or just isn't going to generate the right publicity
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As the Police are describing it as a foiled home invasion I'm fairly sure that we have a publicity issue. Were are talking about a region of the City of Los Angeles called Cheviot Hills. This area is in the higher rent district. As Police have at least 4 documented home invasions in the last few months according to the article; arresting the home owner would invite plenty of bad publicity. Especially considering that one other home was broken into that night with the residents at home: aka a hot burglary.

They also know that people who live in this area are unlikely to need a Public Defender to represent them. Hence my comment about Low Priority Inbox. You might want to check Wiki for their description of the area to help put his into perspective. This is one of the "LAPD are Nice and Polite to the Residents" neighborhoods.

Just my perspective: I live less than 10 miles from there.
 
Even if the prosecutor would dearly love to prosecute, there doesn't seem to be a complaining witness in this case. The only evidence of a crime is the woman's claim she fired at the burglars - but they're certainly not going to come forward and press charges.
 
I cannot imagine the next nervous man who fires a warning shot into the ground toward people involved in a property crime -- not pointing to this kind of 'prosecutorial discretion' and invoking 14th Amendment (un)equal protection.
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It's very rare these days to make an Equal Protection argument regarding the enforcement of criminal laws. You basically have to show a law is unequally enforced against a "suspect class" like race, etc.
 
Today I found the incidents that precipitated the story. On Feb. 6 there were two burglaries, one on the 10500 block of Blythe and one on the 2400 block of Patricia LAPD reports 140800603 and 140800604 respectively. Both were listed as 2:45am according to LA Times. Since Oct. 1 these two blocks each experienced three burglaries all after dark. I can surmise why these two blocks are so hot just looking at the map.

Cheviot Hills in the last six months has experienced:

Violent crimes: 4 Aggravated Assaults and 2 Robberies. Rating #142 out of 209 LA Times tracked communities.

Property Crimes: 34 Burglaries, 41 Thefts, 8 GTA's, and 32 Theft from Vehicles. Rating #34 out of 209 LA Times tracked communities.

I will now file this under: DA Round File! I will bet good money nothing comes of this: no charges will be filed. If LAPD lists this as a burglary; discretion will go to the resident. Worst case is discharging in the city limits and I doubt they would bother under the circumstances.

The only evidence of a crime is the woman's claim she fired at the burglars - but they're certainly not going to come forward and press charges.
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That is incorrect. The statement(s) of the resident coupled with the physical evidence of discharged gun (I doubt she cleaned it right away), a wad in her lawn, and the reports of shots fired and / or the gun shot triangulation devices (sniper detectors) going nuts (yes we have those around here) are more than enough evidence that one or more crimes may have been committed.
 
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That is incorrect. The statement(s) of the resident
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And she will, of course, deny this and say she was mistaken.

coupled with the physical evidence of discharged gun (I doubt she cleaned it right away),
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So you're saying that putting away a shotgun without cleaning it first is evidence that it was fired at a certain time and in a certain place? Really?


a wad in her lawn
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Perhaps, perhaps not. Since you don't have any idea where she was standing, in what direction she pointed the shotgun, or at what angle she may have shot at toward the ground, there's no way you could find a wadding, and even if you did, you couldn't necessarily connect it with her or with that shotgun.

and the reports of shots fired and / or the gun shot triangulation devices (sniper detectors) going nuts (yes we have those around here)
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How does this incriminate her in particular? There are lots of reports of shots fired in urban, high-crime neighborhoods. Doesn't incriminate any individual citizen more than any other.

Let me put it another way - there isn't a prosecutor on earth who would bring such a case to court based on the evidence you claim (not know, just claim) exists.
 
Really????

Besides her posing with the shotgun in the photos for the press. Other than the smell of a recently fired gun and the "supposed shooter"with which they could swab and the gun for residue and match the residues via a mass spectrum analyzer? Not to mention the recently emptied shell that has "tooling marks" that would match the "supposed" gun used if they wanted to match them up?

I took you two weeks to come up with these attempts to discredit what I stated????? You must have missed the part that this neighborhood is higher rent district...not the "hood". Gunshots are not the norm around there. But what do I know, I only live in the region.


I even gave the police report numbers associated with the supposed claim of discharge of a weapon within the city limits and the "robberies" / "burglaries" as reported. Have you ever hear the phrase, "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law?" Why don't you request a copy of the police reports and see what the responding / reporting officer(s) had to say?

Edit to add: Try Google maps and see the size of the properties. You would understand why I said the wad would be in the grass. If not in hers, it would be on the neighbors back yard. It can only be one of two properties.

Thanks for playing!

Better luck next time.
 
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I don't know how they proved it was a home invasion attempt. Based on the evidence in the article, the persons she frightened off were nothing more than simple trespassers.
 
Because the first burglary that night was reported as a HOT burglary: residents were home when it occurred. That has sort of become synonymous with home invasion in our lazy media
 
Warning shots?....

It's good to see a home owner(gun owner) man or woman, thwart crime but what is going on with these constant incidents of "warning shots"? :confused:
The Marissa Alexander incident in NE Florida also had a warning shot(she was convicted but now has a new trial pending). Another recent Florida incident(Orlando area) had a armed mom shoot at the ground near a registered sex offender that was in her yard looking thru back windows, :eek:.
The MI mom(with a Hi Point carbine, :rolleyes: ) fired warning shots.
BTW; If you see that CCTV video clip, watch the one hapless thug get mad and run back to the door. That's got to be one the dumbest crooks I've seen in awhile. Worse, his gun fell out onto the snow. :eek:

My point is that warning shots are not required in most of these events but it's apparent that many of these gun owners/users have little or no formal training.
 
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