Big-Ass Wall of Text Warning (but with an interesting story and court case on defensive use of force)I was doing some research on the law of defenseive use of force in Maine - particularly non-lethal force used when pointing a CCW at an aggressor - and found this 2001 Maine Supreme Court case. The story behind the case really emphasizes the importance of having a reliable carry method, and makes for a good (relatively short) read:In the early morning hours of November 9, 1999, Joseph Glassman, who was a tenant in an apartment building in Portland's Old Port, awakened to the sounds of loud music and fighting in the apartment below. Glassman had complained on several prior occasions to the tenant in that apartment about the noise, and had called the police once before. This time, the noise was just as loud, but was different in that it involved the sounds of fighting.Glassman went downstairs to ask the people to quiet down. He testified that he took his gun with him because he was aware of recent incidents in the building, including a break-in and a woman being threatened with a knife, and his fiancee was concerned for his safety. He snapped the loaded gun into a shoulder holster, clipped both clips to his pants, and put on a jacket. In the hallway, Glassman saw two men, David Luce and another individual, talking heatedly. Glassman walked past them because the source of the noise was the apartment, not the two men. He knocked on the door and asked the tenant who answered to quiet things down, and told her he was going to call the police. She closed the door, and Glassman went back down the hallway.Glassman testified that as he turned the corner to enter the stairwell, he accidentally bumped into Luce, who told him to watch where he was going. Glassman responded by telling the two men to go home, and Luce told Glassman to mind his own business. Luce then pushed Glassman in the chest, and Glassman stepped backwards, thrown off balance. Glassman testified that the gun began slipping out of the holster, and Glassman tried to hold it in with his arm, but ended up squeezing it out instead. He reached into his jacket to secure it, and Luce shifted his weight and lunged at him. Glassman pointed the gun at Luce, who knocked the gun out of Glassman's hands, wrestled him to the ground, and beat him.Glassman was indicted for criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon in violation of 17-A M.R.S.A. §§ 209, 1252(4).Yikes. To summarize the case, the lower court denied Glassman a jury instruction on self-defense, determining that Glassman had used "deadly force" in pointing the gun at Luce. The Court denied defense counsel's second request for a self-defense instruction when the deliberating jury sent out a note asking if self-defense on Glassman's part could be considered, and also whether it was legal to point a gun at a person in self-defense.Without the self-defense instruction, the jury found Glassman guilty, and he was sentenced to 4 years, all but one suspended.Fortunately, Glassman won his appeal to the ME Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that:What the defendant did was to threaten the use of deadly force; that threat, as a matter of law, did not constitute 'deadly force." ... Because Glassman used the gun in a threatening manner, but did not actually discharge the weapon, his act constituted a use of nondeadly force.The Court further found:A person is justified in using a reasonable degree of nondeadly force upon another person "in order to defend himself or a 3rd person from what he reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful, nondeadly force by such other person, and he may use a degree of such force which he reasonably believes to be necessary for such purpose."So all's well that ends well, I guess? Hindsight is 20/20, but it seems the defendant could have potentially saved himself a lot of time, angst, and money by just making sure his carry method would keep the weapon secure in a scuffle.In any case, at least this is a story with a good moral and a happy ending. Maybe it can save someone some trouble in the future. I know it's made me reevaluate my holsters! via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/1qPHYly
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