Legal Commentary

Interesting Self-Defense Case

By Eugene Volokh

From the Chicago Daily Herald. Throwing a rock through a car window might not at first seem like much by way of self-defense, especially if the fear is that the car will run you over. But I take it that the court?s rationale ? which seems sensible ? must have been that showing signs of a willingness to retaliate might deter bullies, who might worry that the next rock will hit them directly, or might even just psychologically intimidate them:

A [17-year-old] girl who hurled a rock through a car window after its occupants repeatedly drove by yelling threats and homosexual slurs [at her 15-year-old] male companion] was found not guilty of a criminal damage to property charge Tuesday by a McHenry County judge who ruled she acted in self-defense....

?I believe she believed she was in danger of being hit by a car and her feeling was that (the harassment) wasn?t going to end,? [Judge Charles] Weech said while issuing his verdict....

Note this quote from the judge:

?Was there another way to handle it? You bet,? the judge added. ?Two wrongs don?t make a right, and you made a wrong move by throwing the rock.?

The judge?s verdict ? and self-defense law more broadly ? does reflect that one wrong (the initial harassment, which is reasonably interpreted as threatening violence) may make the other wrong (throwing a brick) into a right.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 06, 2010 (boomark / email).