ALABAMA: Stand Your Ground wins over tenacious anti-self-defense prosecutor

The old expression, "No good deed goes unpunished" rings true more often than not.  It surely did for one just honorably discharged US Marine in Shelby County, Alabama – nestled just south of Birmingham.  Shelby County is filled with stately homes and also some ugly poverty.  It's also home to a rabidly anti-self-defense prosecutor who feels that if you have a concealed carry license and carry a gun, you must be part of the problem.

CALERA, Alabama — A Calera man has been indicted on a murder charge in the shooting death of a Clanton woman in December.

Demetrius Watson, 22, is accused of intentionally causing the death of, 40, by shooting her on Dec. 5, according to the indictment filed Tuesday in Shelby County Circuit Court in Columbiana.

… Police have said the shooting that killed Langston happened around 6 p.m. on Dec. 5 at a house on Slab Hill Road in Calera. Watson in court documents lists his home address on Slab Hill Road.

What the initial media reports didn't say (is it any wonder nobody trusts the mainstream media anymore?) was that Demetrius Watson, aged 22, was an honorably discharged US Marine and had a properly licensed CCW gun on his person.  His "frightened" female cousin called him to her home because there was a lunatic woman having some sort of literally frothing at the mouth psychotic episode pounding on her door.  The cousin, having just returned from chemotherapy had her three kids with her, along with two other women.

Sure enough:  Demetrius arrived and found a very large woman on all fours, barking like a dog and frothing at the mouth in his cousin's front yard.  It quickly took a turn for the worse though.  Here is what Alabama court documents say happened:

A summary of the facts discloses that at approximately 6:00 p.m. on December 5, 2013, Watson's frightened female cousin, Datrial Allen-Cathey, summoned him to come to her home because a female stranger, the victim, Lisa Langston, appeared to be having some type of psychotic episode in Cathey's yard. Watson, armed with a pistol, immediately went to Cathey's residence, where he encountered Langston in the yard. He did not know Langston. Langston was foaming at the mouth and barking like a dog. She immediately accused Watson of killing her baby and charged toward him, exclaiming that she intended to kill him. Langston was "fidgeting" with something at her waist as she charged toward Watson. Watson fired once into the ground to scare Langston, but she shouted that she was not afraid of guns and continued to rush toward Watson. Watson fired a second time striking Langston in her arm. However, the bullet traveled into her body striking her lung. She died of the gunshot wound.

The during pre-trial, the local court ruled that Mr. Watson was entitled to "Stand Your Ground" provisions of Alabama state law in the killing of the foaming at the mouth lunatic.

The more detailed description of what happened is here:

FINDINGS OF FACTS

First, this Honorable Court heard the testimony of Mr. Joshua Watson, the brother of Demetrius Watson. Joshua testified that on the night of December 5, 2013, he, along with his girlfriend, was traveling down Highway 31 in Calera, AL when they observed a train stopped at the entrance of Slab Hill Road. Joshua testified that [he] observed an unknown woman, later identified to be Mrs. Lisa Langston, pulled over on the side of the road (at the intersection of Highway 31 and Slab Hill Road). As he drove closer to Mrs. Langston's truck, Joshua testified that it appeared she was beating something in the back of the truck. Joshua testified that he proceeded to turn onto Slab Hill Road and observed Mrs. Langston hysterically screaming for someone named Haley and acting very erratic. Joshua testified that while he attempted to speak to Mrs. Langston, she acted as if she never saw him and appeared to 'stare right through him.' Joshua then observed Mrs. Langston leave her truck (with the driver side door still open) and head to the stopped train. Joshua then testified that he observed Mrs. Langston crawl underneath the train, stumble several times, and then proceed down Slab Hill Road toward his families' property. Out of concern for the safety of his family, including several young children who often play outside, Joshua testified that he contacted his family by phone and to warn them and described Mrs. Langston's erratic behavior.

Moments later, and almost 600 feet from the stopped train, Mrs. Langston arrived at the doorstep of Mrs. Datrial Allen-Cathey, the cousin of [Watson]. Mrs. Cathey testified that she had just returned home from a chemotherapy appointment and that it had started to turn dark. Mrs. Cathey testified that [she], her three children (ages 13, 11, and 8), Melissa Thomas and Connie Baker, were at home when they heard noise and loud knocks on the door. Ms. Cathey testified that she and Ms. Thomas went to the door and observed Mrs. Langston acting alarmingly erratic and repeatedly screaming that ‘[her] husband killed [her] daughter' and that her daughter was hung in a tree behind Mrs. Cathey’s house.

Mrs. Cathey testified that because they could not calm Mrs. Langston down and that her behavior was frightening her and her children, she called [Watson] and told him to come and help immediately. Mrs. Cathey testified that once [Watson] arrived, Mrs. Langston took off after him while hysterically screaming, ‘You killed my baby, you killed my baby.’ Ms. Cathey also testified that, at one point, [Mrs. Langston] broke through a wooden fence in order to charge towards [Watson]. She testified that [Watson] attempted numerous times to calm Mrs. Langston down, but to no avail. At this time, Mrs. Cathey called 911 and explained to the dispatcher that an unknown woman was at her house, going crazy, rolling around in the yard, scaring her and her kids, and yelling that her husband had killed her daughter. While still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, Mrs. Cathey observed Mrs. Langston charge at [Watson]. Mrs. Cathey then testified that [Watson] fired a warning shot into the ground, but that Mrs. Langston kept advancing onto [Watson] and screamed, ‘I am not scared of any gun’ and continued rushing towards him. [Watson] then shot once more.

[Watson] next testified. Upon arriving at Mrs. Cathey’s house, [Watson] testified that he observed an unknown woman foaming at the mouth, on all fours, and constantly rolling back and forth on the ground. [Watson] testified that he repeatedly and calmly requested Mrs. Langston to leave their property numerous times, but that Mrs. Langston refused. Instead, Mrs. Langston began to hysterically scream at [Watson] that he was the one who, in fact, had killed her daughter and that she was going to kill him. Mrs. Langston then began to advance towards [Watson]. [Watson] testified that he immediately warned her that he was armed and to stop. Mrs. Langston disregarded this warning and kept charging towards him. [Watson] then pulled out his pistol, [for] which he has a valid permit, and fired a warning shot into the ground.

However, in spite of this second warning to stop, Mrs. Langston screamed that a gun did not scare her and kept advancing towards [Watson] while still threatening to kill him. Mrs. Langston was fidgeting around her waist with her hands. Mrs. Langston then attempted to attack [Watson]. Due to Mrs. Langston’s constant fidgeting around her waist as well as it being dark, [Watson] testified that he had no way of knowing if Mrs. Langston had a weapon. At this time, [Watson] testified that he fired an additional shot in order to protect himself and his family. The 911 tape shows that within three seconds or so from the warning shot, [Watson] fired this second shot hitting her in the arm.

[Watson] testified that he immediately told everyone to get inside. He then took the phone from Mrs. Cathey in order to speak to the 911 dispatcher. During this conversation as well as the ensuing interview with the lead detective, [Watson] explained that Mrs. Langston threatened to kill him, initially grabbed him, and kept coming at him. [Watson] testified that he was scared for his life and that he had no other choice as it was necessary in order to protect himself and his family.

Sheriff John Shearon, the lead detective on the case, testified in response to a question posed by [Watson’s] attorney that he had nothing to dispute that [Watson] feared for his life and that he was acting in self-defense at the time of the incident.

Included in the exhibits provided to this Court were the psychiatric records of Mrs. Lisa Langston, an autopsy report, and toxicology report. Found within these records are proof that Mrs. Langston had been previously diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder as well as depression and that she was currently prescribed numerous medications in order to curb the effects of this disorder. The autopsy report showed that the time of Mrs. Langston's death, she was approximately 5'2" and weighed 172 lbs. The toxicology reports showed the following medications found in Mrs. Langston's system, (1) Doxepin; (2) Xanax; (3) Seroquel; and (4) Bupropion. In addition to this medication, Mrs. Langston had a 0.18 BAC[, blood alcohol content,] at the time of her death.

The prosecutor appealed the "Stand Your Ground" ruling.  

The Shelby County District Attorney Jill Lee argued that by merely carrying a concealed carry gun – even legally – Mr. Watson is partially to blame for the death of the violent aggressor.

Morover, the State contends that the evidence was insufficient because Watson was armed with a pistol when he approached Langston; thus, the State argues, he was not free from fault in creating a dangerous situation and cannot prevail on an assertion that he acted in self-defense. The State further contends that the evidence was insufficient because Watson had no reason to suspect that Langston possessed a deadly weapon; thus, his use of a deadly weapon was not justified.

"You've got a gun so you must be looking to use it."  That's the attitude of the very anti-gun District Attorney.  No concealed carry licensee, using Jill Lee's view of the world, could lawfully claim they acted in self-defense simply because they carried a gun.  How's that for an anti-self-defense mindset?  I have no doubt she might feel differently if she used her CCW to protect her own life!

To compound her faulty reasoning, she believes that if the bad guy isn't armed, that a good guy has no justification for using deadly force.  Talk about taking "proportional force" to ridiculous extremes! 

The Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's decision.

That wasn't good enough for District Attorney Jill Lee.  She appealed it to the Alabama Supreme Court.

Was it political?  Did race have a bearing on Jill Lee's tenacious handling of what who courts had already ruled a righteous shoot?

Who knows.  The Alabama Supreme Court finally pounded a wooden stake into the chest of Jill Lee's foolishness though:

It is this Court's findings that [Watson] reasonably perceived that this could have resulted in great bodily harm or death to him or a family member. For this reason, [Watson’s] use of force is protected and immunized by the statute as he had the right to be present; was free from fault, and had the right to defend himself and others from serious bodily harm or death.

The Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that [Watson] has met his burden of proving that he is entitled to the immunity provisions of Alabama Code 13A-3-23(d) and (e).

Stand Your Ground wins again – over another anti-self-defense, anti-gun prosecutor.

Hopefully Jill Lee has learned her lesson at great expense to Mr. Watson.

Frankly, she should have given Mr. Watson a pat on the back instead of trying to stab him in the back.