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(IN) Man charged in intruder's death (followup) (1/8/2002)
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Man charged in intruder's deathProsecutor says victim of assault and robbery didn't act in self-defense when he chased and shot his assailant. By Vic Ryckaertvic.ryckaert@indystar.comJanuary 04, 2002A 60-year-old man who chased down and shot an intruder to death last month was charged Thursday with manslaughter and a handgun violation.Michael Clements was not acting in self-defense when he shot 30-year-old Leon Williams Jr. in the back of the left leg, Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman said. "If there's an intruder in your house, you can shoot first and ask questions later," Newman said. "But you can't go gunning for them."On Dec. 18, Williams broke into Clements' home in the 2800 block of North Boulevard Place, attacked him and stole $27 in cash, police said. Williams ran from the home.Clements chased him between houses and fired five shots from a .38-caliber handgun, Newman said.One round landed in a major artery in Williams' left leg, Newman said. Williams was hospitalized but never regained consciousness. He died four days later.Renee Clements said her father was justified in trying to protect his home and family from harm. She said anyone who does not believe he acted in self-defense has no idea what the situation was like."If it would have happened to them, they would have done the same thing," she said.Newman said Michael Clements was not protected by the self-defense law because the threat ended when the suspect fled the home."You can't go hunting a person down in anger," Newman said. "I understand his anger; that's why this is not a murder case. But it's not a self-defense case."Clements was charged with voluntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison. He also was charged with carrying a handgun without a license, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison.Mary A. Buckner was home when Williams was shot in her front lawn in the 2800 block of North Capitol Avenue."I heard the shots, boom-boom-boom, right here by my dining room window," she said. She said she watched Williams stagger and fall. She opened the door as the man crawled across her lawn.Clements went home after the shooting, police said. Buckner dialed 911."I've been nervous ever since," she said. "The bullet could have come through my house. It scared me to death."Buckner said the prosecutor is doing the right thing."I don't care what they do with that man because he put my life in danger," she said. "You can't shoot out in public like that. Anybody could get killed."Clements could not be reached for comment. While there is a warrant out for Clements' arrest, Newman said he will be allowed to voluntarily surrender to police.Indiana law allows people to use deadly force if they reasonably believe they are protecting themselves or someone else from harm or preventing a suspect from committing a violent felony.Marion County juries have tended to rule in favor of the people whom some call vigilantes.In October, jurors acquitted James Franklin of criminal recklessness for shooting an unarmed teen-ager who had stolen his sport utility vehicle in December 2000.In 1994, a grand jury ruled that Carl "Mike" Simion II shot Christopher S. Young, then 17, in self-defense after the youth attempted to steal his car from a Westside Indianapolis carwash. Young was later convicted of auto theft.According to the Indianapolis Police Department:Clements said he grabbed his wife's gun and followed Williams after he broke in, assaulted and robbed him. He said he fired at Williams and saw him fall, then get back up.He told police he went back inside his house to reload. Clements told his wife he planned to get in his car and hunt Williams down. But Mona Clements persuaded her husband to stay home. Neither Clements nor his wife called police.Although Erma Davis acknowledges that Williams, her grandson, had no business breaking into someone's home, she said Clements went too far and deserves to go to prison."He had left the house and the man chased him, and two wrongs do not make a right," Davis said. "He was no longer a threat to that man. I think he (Clements) should be prosecuted, and I hope he's found guilty." http://www.starnews.com/article.php?defense04.html,news