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This is an intresting situation that's happend this past weekend...An intresting case, I hope the ypung man doesn't face any charges...
WaveRunner shooting: Self-defense or a crime?
A thief who was shot in the head by a 14-year-old trying to protect his family was deaf, family members said.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/2...#ixzz1NQZvi0Pa
BY JULIE K. BROWN AND ANDREA TORRES
[email protected]
An intruder prowling outside a waterfront home, a frightened family, a confrontation with a gun, a burglar shot through the head.
Justifiable killing or a case for prosecution?
Questions mounted Tuesday about the circumstances that led to the killing of a 20-year-old man when he tried to steal a WaveRunner from a Miami Shores home.
Police reports indicate that a teen at the home grabbed a shotgun during a confrontation with the intruder and, believing he posed a danger to him and his family, fired. Law enforcement sources said the juvenile shooter is 14.
The teenager, who was not identified, was home with his mother, Yasmin Davis. His father, attorney Jeffrey Davis, was not present, the report said. Initially, the teenager and his mother told investigators that the intruder threatened them outside their home at 9275 N. Bayfront Dr. It was not clear what kind of threat, and police have not said whether the intruder, Reynaldo Muñoz, 20, of Hialeah, was armed.
According to Jose Lopez, a family friend, Muñoz could not have verbally threatened anyone because he used sign language and was deaf. Muñoz’s father, Reynaldo Muñoz, said the police report was wrong, but he declined to elaborate.
“I just buried my son,’’ the father said Tuesday.
If Muñoz was deaf and couldn’t speak, it may raise questions about the credibility of the family’s story, experts said. Initially, the mother and her son told police that Muñoz indicated he was armed, but their statements have been inconsistent, law enforcement sources said. They have since hired attorneys and not spoken to investigators.
Meanwhile, Muñoz’s alleged accomplice, Carolina Lopez, 19, was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of felony murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend. Under Florida law, if a death occurs during a felony, the accomplice can be charged with the death.
The Miami Herald could not reach Davis, either by phone or email.
Tamara Lave, a law professor at the University of Miami and a former public defender, said it’s unlikely that the state’s Castle Doctrine would justify the killing. Under the law, any criminal who forcibly enters a home or car is presumably there to cause death or bodily harm, justifying deadly force. But Lave said that does not appear to be the case in this incident.
“The burglar would have had to enter a residence, occupied dwelling or a vehicle, and in this case the burglar was only on the property,’’ Lave said.
However, Lave said the shooting could have been in self-defense, which allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves from a person who is committing a forcible felony. Burglary is a felony, she said, but it’s murky whether this particular one was forcible.
“Either way, it may be for a judge or jury to decide,’’ she said.
The family had been victims of a previous armed robbery at the home, according to police records.
The attempted burglary on Saturday happened about 2:30 p.m. when Muñoz and Lopez drove to Pelican Harbor Marina in Miami. He parked his truck, and Muñoz put his own WaveRunner in the water, and the couple navigated it to the Davis home. Police said Muñoz then jumped into the water and started walking along a concrete seawall onto the Davis property. At that point, Lopez steered their WaveRunner back toward the marina.
As he removed Davis’ WaveRunner, Muñoz was “confronted by the homeowner who armed himself with a shotgun in an attempt to protect his family,’’ the police affidavit said.
Lopez, of Hialeah, confessed the plan to police, explaining that the couple planned on stealing the WaveRunner and selling it for $2,000, the police report said.
“Any statements that may have been made — or evidence collected — will be investigated,’’ said Detective Roy Rutland, Miami-Dade police spokesman. Miami-Dade is involved in the investigation.
Two years ago, Davis’ wife was assaulted in the driveway of their home by three men armed with semi-automatics. According to the police report, Jeffrey Davis did not have the remote to open the garage and exited the car to open the door. At that point, the men approached his wife in the car, and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t give them her purse. They then grabbed the purse and fled. She and her husband had just returned from dinner when the crime happened in September 2009. Afterward, Davis installed several security cameras in and around the house.
Miami Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/2...#ixzz1NQZZ0Uli
A thief who was shot in the head by a 14-year-old trying to protect his family was deaf, family members said.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/2...#ixzz1NQZvi0Pa
BY JULIE K. BROWN AND ANDREA TORRES
[email protected]
An intruder prowling outside a waterfront home, a frightened family, a confrontation with a gun, a burglar shot through the head.
Justifiable killing or a case for prosecution?
Questions mounted Tuesday about the circumstances that led to the killing of a 20-year-old man when he tried to steal a WaveRunner from a Miami Shores home.
Police reports indicate that a teen at the home grabbed a shotgun during a confrontation with the intruder and, believing he posed a danger to him and his family, fired. Law enforcement sources said the juvenile shooter is 14.
The teenager, who was not identified, was home with his mother, Yasmin Davis. His father, attorney Jeffrey Davis, was not present, the report said. Initially, the teenager and his mother told investigators that the intruder threatened them outside their home at 9275 N. Bayfront Dr. It was not clear what kind of threat, and police have not said whether the intruder, Reynaldo Muñoz, 20, of Hialeah, was armed.
According to Jose Lopez, a family friend, Muñoz could not have verbally threatened anyone because he used sign language and was deaf. Muñoz’s father, Reynaldo Muñoz, said the police report was wrong, but he declined to elaborate.
“I just buried my son,’’ the father said Tuesday.
If Muñoz was deaf and couldn’t speak, it may raise questions about the credibility of the family’s story, experts said. Initially, the mother and her son told police that Muñoz indicated he was armed, but their statements have been inconsistent, law enforcement sources said. They have since hired attorneys and not spoken to investigators.
Meanwhile, Muñoz’s alleged accomplice, Carolina Lopez, 19, was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of felony murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend. Under Florida law, if a death occurs during a felony, the accomplice can be charged with the death.
The Miami Herald could not reach Davis, either by phone or email.
Tamara Lave, a law professor at the University of Miami and a former public defender, said it’s unlikely that the state’s Castle Doctrine would justify the killing. Under the law, any criminal who forcibly enters a home or car is presumably there to cause death or bodily harm, justifying deadly force. But Lave said that does not appear to be the case in this incident.
“The burglar would have had to enter a residence, occupied dwelling or a vehicle, and in this case the burglar was only on the property,’’ Lave said.
However, Lave said the shooting could have been in self-defense, which allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves from a person who is committing a forcible felony. Burglary is a felony, she said, but it’s murky whether this particular one was forcible.
“Either way, it may be for a judge or jury to decide,’’ she said.
The family had been victims of a previous armed robbery at the home, according to police records.
The attempted burglary on Saturday happened about 2:30 p.m. when Muñoz and Lopez drove to Pelican Harbor Marina in Miami. He parked his truck, and Muñoz put his own WaveRunner in the water, and the couple navigated it to the Davis home. Police said Muñoz then jumped into the water and started walking along a concrete seawall onto the Davis property. At that point, Lopez steered their WaveRunner back toward the marina.
As he removed Davis’ WaveRunner, Muñoz was “confronted by the homeowner who armed himself with a shotgun in an attempt to protect his family,’’ the police affidavit said.
Lopez, of Hialeah, confessed the plan to police, explaining that the couple planned on stealing the WaveRunner and selling it for $2,000, the police report said.
“Any statements that may have been made — or evidence collected — will be investigated,’’ said Detective Roy Rutland, Miami-Dade police spokesman. Miami-Dade is involved in the investigation.
Two years ago, Davis’ wife was assaulted in the driveway of their home by three men armed with semi-automatics. According to the police report, Jeffrey Davis did not have the remote to open the garage and exited the car to open the door. At that point, the men approached his wife in the car, and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t give them her purse. They then grabbed the purse and fled. She and her husband had just returned from dinner when the crime happened in September 2009. Afterward, Davis installed several security cameras in and around the house.
Miami Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/2...#ixzz1NQZZ0Uli
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