An interesting situation is developing in a small town in Florida. A man named Dennis Hicks got angry with another motorist at a light, and then challenged and threatened to shoot a different person in another car at the next light, named Timothy Sartori, apparently just for looking over at him. When the angry man "reached for something," Sartori opened fire and killed Hicks.
Sartori has not been charged. The investigating authority is not yet saying whether a gun was found in Hicks' car. It does not appear that Sartori saw a weapon, only that Hicks reached for "something" after threatening Sartori. Hicks was no gem, according to newspaper accounts, but it is not at all clear to me that Sartori can articulate a clear threat without having seen a weapon.
The other thing that could harm Sartori is that four of his shots hit another car. Thankfully, neither the driver of that car nor his 3-year-old passenger was injured. Imagine hitting a 3-year-old with stray shots.
Comments, especially from our legal professionals, are welcome. The most recent article with a description of the shooting is linked below. The only more recent publication is one that gives the name of the shooter, but it lacks the details of the linked article.
http://treasurecoast.fl.newsmemory....selDate=20171121&licenseType=paid_subscriber&
ETA: The link isn't working the same as when I copied it. To see the article I intended, you have to use the "Editions" button at the far right to change to the Press Journal, then go to page A10. Or you could take my word for it.
Sartori has not been charged. The investigating authority is not yet saying whether a gun was found in Hicks' car. It does not appear that Sartori saw a weapon, only that Hicks reached for "something" after threatening Sartori. Hicks was no gem, according to newspaper accounts, but it is not at all clear to me that Sartori can articulate a clear threat without having seen a weapon.
The other thing that could harm Sartori is that four of his shots hit another car. Thankfully, neither the driver of that car nor his 3-year-old passenger was injured. Imagine hitting a 3-year-old with stray shots.
Comments, especially from our legal professionals, are welcome. The most recent article with a description of the shooting is linked below. The only more recent publication is one that gives the name of the shooter, but it lacks the details of the linked article.
http://treasurecoast.fl.newsmemory....selDate=20171121&licenseType=paid_subscriber&
ETA: The link isn't working the same as when I copied it. To see the article I intended, you have to use the "Editions" button at the far right to change to the Press Journal, then go to page A10. Or you could take my word for it.
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