Let me come over there and self-defense you to death...

[Nekojin]

There's a man in Texas who went over to his neighbor's house, wielding a cell phone (already dialed to 911), camera, and gun, complained about noise coming from their house, and then shot people who went to defend themselves.

Yahoo News entry

Long version: Raul Rodriguez called 911, complaining about noise at a party going on at a house two over from his house. He then picked up a camera and gun, and went to the neighboring house to complain about the noise, all while on the line with 911, narrating his actions to the 911 operator, histrionically declaring how he feels his life is in danger by going over there. When he arrives, he starts filming, and then brandishes the weapon at party-goers, threatening them. When they respond in kind, he opens fire, injuring two and killing a woman who was unarmed.

And he's claiming self-defense.

More links:
Others say that shooter was "always judging others"
Video that shooter was filming, which he believes is proof of his self-defense.

[Mytical]

*facepalm* Oh sure, bringing a gun to somebody elses property..brandishing it, and telling them you will 'defend yourself' is self defense. Yeah..ok.

[Andara Bledin]

First, a correction: the murder victim (because it absolutely was murder) was the owner of the home, and male. It was his wife and 3-year-old daughter's joint birthday party.

Honestly, I think he'll be hosed by one telling line in his pre-meditated "defense" video.

He says, "Look, I'm not losing to these people anymore..."

He'd already called the police, and the police had already determined that there was no violation. He went over so that he could "win."

^-.-^

[Duelist925]

The video he claims is his salvation is sooo damning. Shows peoples reactions to his waving his gun around like a jackass, his histrionics of "I will defend myself!" when the others got a smidgen too close. Any threats against him didn't start until AFTER he'd pulled his gun and begun shouting about defending himself, rendering any supposed self defense claim utterly invalid.

As Andara said, the "I'm not losing to these people" line.


What a jackass. Utter jackass.

[HYHYBT]

I say we take up a collection, then go around to all the Cracker Barrels and buy up the chairs off their front porches, hand them out, and make people sit in them. Because as it stands, entirely too many people are off their rockers.

[Rageaholic]

I didn't watch the video, but he sounds crazy.

It reminds me of this guy on youtube who filmed himself going into stores, looking for arguements from workers. He would deliberatly draw attention to himself to get them to confront him. Then he would rant and rave about his "rights". In both instances, the person was looking for a fight, but in the OP example, the nutcase had a gun.

What an asshole.

[Seifer]

Is utter stupidity a defense? I think that's the one he should go with, to be honest. In this case, "self-defense" is a cop-out.

[Mytical]

Insanity is. He should honestly go with the insanity defense. I'd buy it. Cause only an insane person would think this is self defense. Though I am insane, so my opinion on the matter can be suspect also.

[bara]

I didnt hear any music being played.

I fully believe that everyone has the right to defend themselves and that in some cases killing the attacker is acceptable. But you dont get to go onto someone elses property with a gun and shoot them. He sounded calm to me, not at all like a man in fear for his life.

[draco664]

Insanity is. He should honestly go with the insanity defense. I'd buy it. Cause only an insane person would think this is self defense. Though I am insane, so my opinion on the matter can be suspect also.

Nah, insanity is too hard to prove in court. Only a small percentage of those who claim it ever get found not-guilty.

He should however, plead not guilty by reason of stupidity. It may not fly with the judge, but the jury would have no problem believing it.

[Lillfilly]

I sure hope he doesn't get away with abusing the law this way! What a nut!

[Amanita]

As a proponent of the right to self defense, this makes me sick. Self defense is meant to give people a means to deal with kooks like this, not for kooks to bully and harm others. WTF Indeed!

[Nekojin]

Trial is over. Verdict is that Rodriguez is guilty of murder.

Yahoo News link

The defense didn't call any witnesses, and didn't even have Rodriguez testify in his own defense - they relied solely on the 22-minute video mentioned in the OP. The jury took less than six hours deliberating the verdict.

[s_stabeler]

um, I hope "less than 6 hours" is supposed to indicate an extremely short debate by the jurors, and that it actually only took a few minutes. Since the defense basically said screw it....