CHL-holder ruled to have acted in self-defense in neighborhood shooting

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that a Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court judge has found a 52 year-old concealed handgun license-holder who had been charged with murder not guilty.

From the article:

Andre Jackson of Bedford Heights was charged with murder in the death of Michael Davis. What started as an altercation about debris in the front yard ultimately ended up in a situation where - defense attorneys argued - Jackson felt threatened, and had no choice but to shoot.

Defense attorney Andy Petropouleas said the front yard fight was just the latest in a string of confrontations. Petropouleas described Davis as a neighborhood bully with a long history of causing trouble on what is otherwise a sleepy suburban street.

The shooting occurred on June 25, 2014. That day, Petropouleas said Davis was upset about water backing up in a drain near his home, for which he blamed his neighbor, Jackson. To send a message, he covered Jackson's driveway with mud and debris.

When Jackson attempted to clean up the mess, the two got into a fight, and in the end Jackson felt cornered and threatened, Petropouleas said.

After the incident, Cleveland prosecutors charged Jackson with murder and felonious assault. Jackson maintained that he had no other choice but to defend himself.

In his ruling, Judge Stuart A. Friedman said he was convinced Jackson did feel threatened enough to warrant a self-defense argument. In his decision, he described Davis as a hothead who had bragged the dubious claim that he used to be Mike Tyson's sparring partner.

"The defendant reasonably concluded that neither retreat, nor reasoning was likely to succeed this time, that Michael Davis was both capable and willing to inflict serious physical harm, and that the only option available to him in order to avoid that was the .357 Taurus handgun that he carried with him," Friedman wrote.

A complete list of known incidents involving Ohio CHL-holders defending themselves is available here.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.

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