An illustrative case. It was Smith’s own audio recording of the incident that hung him. Minnesota is a castle doctrine state, so he probably could have claimed justification in shooting the first intruder when he broke in. He could have argued that he was reasonably in fear for his life then and the castle doctrine doesn’t require a person to flee his or her dwelling in order to avoid using lethal force to stop an intruder under those circumstances . However, his recording showed that he “executed” the second teen burglar. Since there is no “death penalty “ for burglary in Minnesota, Smith’s use of lethal force wasn’t “reasonable” or necessary to secure his safety and so his “good, clean finishing shot" earned him a premeditated murder conviction. Furthermore, the fact that he delayed calling the police for so long probably convinced the jury that he intended to ambush and kill the teen burglars, absent any circumstances that would justify the use of lethal force.
By Epictetus
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