Shame on Judge Chris McGuire
What a disgrace Taupo Judge Chris McGuire is to the law profession, and to every property owner in this country.
McGuire recently convicted a homeowner for pointing a gun at two intruders in his house in the middle of the night - they happened to be police officers.
McGuire recently convicted a homeowner for pointing a gun at two intruders in his house in the middle of the night - they happened to be police officers.
Homeowner Jerey Graves came home late and used a large statue to smash a double glazed window of his house when he could not find his spare keys.
He got in and went to bed.
Unknown to GRaves his neighbour heard the smashing glass and called the police.
Two unarmed police officers who responded yelled out identifying themselves as police but received no response.
Graves said when he heard a noise he panicked (as you would), and grabbed an un loaded air pistol. He stood at the top of the stairs and pointed it at the figures in the darkSo what if they yelled out - we are police - so would some criminals do the same, and until they had indentified themselves good and proper he should have every right to point a gun at them to protect his life and his property - especially in the middle of the night.
Also, Shame on the police officers for not having the common sense not to take this issue any further.
Don't come to my place uninvited in the middle of the night - I will shoot first and ask questions later - well, I would if I had a gun anyway.
The judge said the homeowner would not have been charged if it was a baseball bat - what a bloody dope he is!
What if he had cracked their skull with the bat? - dead is dead whether its a bat or a gun!
What if it was huge great carving knife or a pointed stick? Would he have been charged then? Why?
This is all we need - judges who do not understand property rights, the non-initiation of force, and the right to protect your life and your property - The law is supposed to be on the side of the goodies, not the baddies.
Shame on Judge Chris McGuire
posted by The Tomahawk Kid at 9:37 pm
3 Comments:
TK it would appear that Judge McGuire has tried to set a precedence here with his ruling with hopes that it doesn't occur again in the future and not on the case in hand and the circumstances that led up to the misunderstanding between home-owner and law enforcement. Everything you have written down seems pretty straight forward until it comes before the judge and his ruling. An owner can break into his own house but should realize that being late at night he will attract attention. If you are lucky enough to have great neighbours who watch over you and your property, I am not talking busy-bodies here, they will do the right thing by contacting law enforcement if they notice somethings amiss. Law enforcement are trained to protect the public and have minimal information when turning up to domestic disturbances, which I might add are the most dangerous and unpredictable of call-outs that police/paramedics show up to. The stand off between police and owner is the obvious "What is going on here?" situation where tensions are running high and the potential for harm extreme. On the owners side I would ask how long had the police been on the scene before entering the house? Regardless of the owner being asleep, passed out, using the bathroom, etc, all avenues of law enforcement identifying themselves before entering a hostile enviroment must be exhausted before securing a potential crime scene. On law enforcements side regardless of who is standing in your doorway Mr. Owner do not raise a gun and point it unless you are ready to use it. You must be in fear of your life before taking it to that level. As for the Judges decision on it would have been a different ruling if the owner had used a bat, knife, what ever is at hand, you are correct that is not the issue here and he should not have presented it that way and given the circumstances you have explained above let the owner off with a warning. To bad you don't have a copy of the court case transcripts it would make an interesting read of the facts presented without opinion. Support owners property rights, thank your neighbours for caring about you and your rights, and most of all support your local law enforcement who get very little understanding and thanks for putting themselves in harms way to protect us.
Thank you for your considerate and civil response to my post.
Had I been in the same situation I would not hesitate to point a gun at an unwanted intruder in my house in the middle of the night regardless of whether my life was immediately at risk or not. (if I had a gun that was!)
Nobody comes into my house unwanted - especially in the middle of the night.
People must be educated to understand that this is not acceptable behaviour, and unless they wish to get either bashed or shot, then they should refrain from entering other peoples houses uninvited.
The law is protecting the criminals, and not the victims - this must change.
Thank you Bill for your post
That useless in-eloquent dishonest bugger McGuire provided me the most hopeless defense as a lawyer!
Was he onside with the Crown?? If he had faced me properly and worked conscientiously on the case, as he should have, I would have had 3 years of my life back. I hate that bugger McGuire. K
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