Self-Defense shooting?

[Bill Mattocks]

I'm going to say not. And it has nothing to do with the fact that medical marijuana-growing was involved.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7657227

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Police on Wednesday arrested 47-year-old Phayvanh Dydouanghphan for shooting a man who had apparently stolen marijuana from his backyard garden.

Dydouanghphan is a medical marijuana patient and is allowed to grow pot for his personal use. Several other people, who live in the house in the 900 Block of Belmont, are also said to be medical marijuana patients. Their backyard garden appears to have hundreds of plants. They tower above the six foot fence that surrounds the property. Early Wednesday morning, four people in a red pickup knocked down part of the fence and made off with several large plants. Police say Dydounghphan fired at the pickup. The victim, a 40-year-old man was shot in the head. At 11PM Wednesday night Fresno Police said he was not expected to live.

The brother of the shooter described the act as 'self-defense':

When asked if he felt the shooting was justified, he responded; "Self defense. Self defense. You gotta protect your home. You can't let somebody come to your house and shoot you, you're gonna shoot back."
When asked if he knew the thief had a gun he said; "Yeah, of course. They a thief. They are gonna have a gun."
Police have not said whether the alleged thief had a weapon. But it appears he was shot while fleeing. Attorney and Action News Legal Analyst Tony Capozzi says that doesn't sound like self defense.

Again, my take on this is that if you are going to own a gun for self-defense, know how to use it, and know when you are legally justified in doing so.

 

[jks9199]

Property crime. It's rarely justified to use lethal force to defend property. It doesn't sound like they were approaching his home proper, possibly not even the real curtilage. It would help to know the exact timing; was the truck moving into the property or fleeing.