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Shooter will not be charged
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Shooter will not be charged Tuesday, November 20, 2001By Doug Guthrie and Tanda Gmiter The Grand Rapids Press
Calling the shooting justifiable, Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth will not charge a Southeast Side man with wounding a teen who reportedly kicked in the man's front door last week.Sherman L. Rose, 50, shot the 16-year-old boy in the leg and upper chest."In fairness to this homeowner, he shouldn't have to worry about this over the Thanksgiving holiday," Forsyth said today. "It was a pretty clear cut thing."State law permits the use of deadly force when life is threatened or a felony has been committed and force is necessary to apprehend the fleeing felon.The suspect remains under police guard in Saint Mary's Mercy Medical Center. The youth has yet to be charged with any crime.Because of his status as a juvenile -- he turns 17 at the end of the month -- a hearing may first be required in Kent County Family Court to determine if he should be charged as an adult. Police, who have declined to identify the youth, said they have had prior contact with him as a criminal suspect.The shooting occurred about 7:15 a.m. Friday in the entryway of Rose's home on Merrit Street SE.Rose told investigators he carried his 9 mm semiautomatic handgun downstairs when awakened. He said he reached the bottom of the stairs just as the front door burst open. The teen stood no more than 10 feet away.While police don't believe the teen was armed, Rose told detectives the intruder "made a move," and he started shooting.Neighbors reported hearing as many as six shots. Bullets struck three houses across from Rose's home. Police found spent cartridges from the gun on Rose's front lawn.The wounded teen ran two blocks and collapsed on a relative's porch. His relatives called police.Police confiscated Rose's properly registered handgun and the trigger lock Rose had used on it.This is the second time in 15 months that Forsyth has decided a high-profile shooting is justified.In August 2000, the prosecutor declined to charge a West Side Party Store clerk who shot and wounded a man who allegedly implied he had a gun and grabbed cash from the store's till.Forsyth's stance was criticized largely because the clerk was intoxicated at the time of the shooting. The clerk's blood-alcohol level was 0.145, above the level considered drunk under state motor vehicle laws.Friday's case also is similar to one in 1989, when charges were pressed against a Sparta party store owner who shot at a car containing four teens fleeing after two attempted to break into the man's closed store. One of his bullets pierced the car door and struck a female passenger. The store owner was charged, but the judge eventually dismissed the charges, saying the shopkeeper had the right to use deadly force. http://gr.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20011120gnocharge105803.frm
Calling the shooting justifiable, Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth will not charge a Southeast Side man with wounding a teen who reportedly kicked in the man's front door last week.Sherman L. Rose, 50, shot the 16-year-old boy in the leg and upper chest."In fairness to this homeowner, he shouldn't have to worry about this over the Thanksgiving holiday," Forsyth said today. "It was a pretty clear cut thing."State law permits the use of deadly force when life is threatened or a felony has been committed and force is necessary to apprehend the fleeing felon.The suspect remains under police guard in Saint Mary's Mercy Medical Center. The youth has yet to be charged with any crime.Because of his status as a juvenile -- he turns 17 at the end of the month -- a hearing may first be required in Kent County Family Court to determine if he should be charged as an adult. Police, who have declined to identify the youth, said they have had prior contact with him as a criminal suspect.The shooting occurred about 7:15 a.m. Friday in the entryway of Rose's home on Merrit Street SE.Rose told investigators he carried his 9 mm semiautomatic handgun downstairs when awakened. He said he reached the bottom of the stairs just as the front door burst open. The teen stood no more than 10 feet away.While police don't believe the teen was armed, Rose told detectives the intruder "made a move," and he started shooting.Neighbors reported hearing as many as six shots. Bullets struck three houses across from Rose's home. Police found spent cartridges from the gun on Rose's front lawn.The wounded teen ran two blocks and collapsed on a relative's porch. His relatives called police.Police confiscated Rose's properly registered handgun and the trigger lock Rose had used on it.This is the second time in 15 months that Forsyth has decided a high-profile shooting is justified.In August 2000, the prosecutor declined to charge a West Side Party Store clerk who shot and wounded a man who allegedly implied he had a gun and grabbed cash from the store's till.Forsyth's stance was criticized largely because the clerk was intoxicated at the time of the shooting. The clerk's blood-alcohol level was 0.145, above the level considered drunk under state motor vehicle laws.Friday's case also is similar to one in 1989, when charges were pressed against a Sparta party store owner who shot at a car containing four teens fleeing after two attempted to break into the man's closed store. One of his bullets pierced the car door and struck a female passenger. The store owner was charged, but the judge eventually dismissed the charges, saying the shopkeeper had the right to use deadly force. http://gr.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20011120gnocharge105803.frm