GMoSD

Sebastian has a post up about a DGU where the citizen made some statements and did some things that he thinks will hurt his case. One for sure won't help him (refusing to disarm when asked to by police), but the other, I'm not so sure it's such a big deal.

The man, Gerald Ung, is reported to have said to the attackers "don't piss me off'. I remember a long time ago that Massad Ayoob dealt with this in a court case. In that case, he was accused of saying some awfully mean and profane things to the perp in the course of the apprehension and arrest. When asked about it on the stand, he said something like (this is from memory now) ' I have also been accused of calling the defendant a motherfucker ... I may have, but in the heat of the moment I don't remember saying it.'

Case closed.

Now, it's my opinion that the DA in the Ung case should be looking at this case with a bit more of a critical eye, filing charges against Ung. But this is a lesson we all need to be aware of. If you have to shoot someone in self-defense, society is going to adjudicate the death of a citizen. He may have been a shitty citizen, but he's a citizen none the less. Some DA's seem to forget why they're there.

pm