guess so, if you're a cop !
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'Reasonable force' an issue in shooting
Phil Helsel, Register Staff
05/31/2007
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STRATFORD — While state law seems to indicate that New Haven police Officer Eric Scott was justified when he shot what he thought was a burglar — but was actually his daughter — in his home, legal experts said Wednesday that it might not be that simple.
Key to the case will be what Scott, 41, saw and thought when he fired a single shot from his Glock service weapon at a "shadow moving in the basement bathroom" of his home early Tuesday morning, experts said. The shadow turned out to be his 18-year-old daughter, Tasha.
"The basic rule is you can take action to defend yourself," said Linda Meyer, a professor of law at Quinnipiac University who said she was speaking on the law and not about Scott's case. "Then there's the question of how much action you can take; you can't kill someone on sight unless they're coming at you with a weapon."
No charges have been filed against Scott. Police are continuing the investigation into the 1 a.m. shooting that left his daughter with a bullet in her right knee. She was listed in fair condition Wednesday at Bridgeport Hospital.
Police said that Scott shot his daughter as he investigated a possible break-in at his Soundview Avenue home. Scott, a nine-year veteran of the New Haven force on leave following a November traffic accident, awoke in the middle of the night when a motion-sensitive light went off; he armed himself and began checking his home. He shot his daughter, police said, after noticing a basement door open that had been locked when he went to sleep. It turns out that Tasha Scott was trying to sneak back into the home unnoticed while returning from a late-night visit with a boyfriend, police said.
Stratford police Capt. Thomas Rodia, commander of the detective bureau and in charge of the investigation, said he didn't know whether Scott yelled out any warning before he fired at the shadowy figure. Detectives are waiting until Tasha Scott recovers before they interview her.
"That's something we're looking at," said Rodia. "We have to sit down and take a statement from her when she gets a little better, then we should know more."
Rodia said that once finished, the investigation will be forwarded to the state's attorney's office in Bridgeport for review.
Kim Coleman, an associate for attorney Norm Pattis, who frequently pursues excessive-force cases, said that it's impossible to say whether the shooting was justified without knowing all the facts. But Connecticut's law is not an open invitation to use any amount of force against an intruder, she said.
"Reasonable is the key word," Coleman said. "But reasonable is that legal term that's very fact-specific."
Meyer said that even if the facts in a case show that a homeowner was too quick to pull the trigger, most prosecutors don't file charges unless there are extreme circumstances.
But possible charges could include assault with a deadly weapon, she said.
"Most prosecutors are going to give most homeowners the benefit of the doubt, unless someone is really out of control or if someone got killed," Meyer said. "But if it's the middle of the night and you hear a noise and see what looks like a gun, you would be justified in shooting them — even if it turns out to be your daughter."
Scott is on leave from the New Haven Police Department after he was hit by a truck and dragged on Nov. 10 while directing traffic as part of an extra-duty job on Forbes Avenue.
Scott wouldn't talk to a reporter outside his home Tuesday evening, but Rodia said that he was understandably mortified when he realized he had shot his daughter. Scott was the one who called 911. "He was quite upset," Rodia said.
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Phil Helsel can be reached at 876-3028, or at phelsel@nhregister.com.
.......................................................................................................
'Reasonable force' an issue in shooting
Phil Helsel, Register Staff
05/31/2007
Email to a friendPrinter-friendly
STRATFORD — While state law seems to indicate that New Haven police Officer Eric Scott was justified when he shot what he thought was a burglar — but was actually his daughter — in his home, legal experts said Wednesday that it might not be that simple.
Key to the case will be what Scott, 41, saw and thought when he fired a single shot from his Glock service weapon at a "shadow moving in the basement bathroom" of his home early Tuesday morning, experts said. The shadow turned out to be his 18-year-old daughter, Tasha.
"The basic rule is you can take action to defend yourself," said Linda Meyer, a professor of law at Quinnipiac University who said she was speaking on the law and not about Scott's case. "Then there's the question of how much action you can take; you can't kill someone on sight unless they're coming at you with a weapon."
No charges have been filed against Scott. Police are continuing the investigation into the 1 a.m. shooting that left his daughter with a bullet in her right knee. She was listed in fair condition Wednesday at Bridgeport Hospital.
Police said that Scott shot his daughter as he investigated a possible break-in at his Soundview Avenue home. Scott, a nine-year veteran of the New Haven force on leave following a November traffic accident, awoke in the middle of the night when a motion-sensitive light went off; he armed himself and began checking his home. He shot his daughter, police said, after noticing a basement door open that had been locked when he went to sleep. It turns out that Tasha Scott was trying to sneak back into the home unnoticed while returning from a late-night visit with a boyfriend, police said.
Stratford police Capt. Thomas Rodia, commander of the detective bureau and in charge of the investigation, said he didn't know whether Scott yelled out any warning before he fired at the shadowy figure. Detectives are waiting until Tasha Scott recovers before they interview her.
"That's something we're looking at," said Rodia. "We have to sit down and take a statement from her when she gets a little better, then we should know more."
Rodia said that once finished, the investigation will be forwarded to the state's attorney's office in Bridgeport for review.
Kim Coleman, an associate for attorney Norm Pattis, who frequently pursues excessive-force cases, said that it's impossible to say whether the shooting was justified without knowing all the facts. But Connecticut's law is not an open invitation to use any amount of force against an intruder, she said.
"Reasonable is the key word," Coleman said. "But reasonable is that legal term that's very fact-specific."
Meyer said that even if the facts in a case show that a homeowner was too quick to pull the trigger, most prosecutors don't file charges unless there are extreme circumstances.
But possible charges could include assault with a deadly weapon, she said.
"Most prosecutors are going to give most homeowners the benefit of the doubt, unless someone is really out of control or if someone got killed," Meyer said. "But if it's the middle of the night and you hear a noise and see what looks like a gun, you would be justified in shooting them — even if it turns out to be your daughter."
Scott is on leave from the New Haven Police Department after he was hit by a truck and dragged on Nov. 10 while directing traffic as part of an extra-duty job on Forbes Avenue.
Scott wouldn't talk to a reporter outside his home Tuesday evening, but Rodia said that he was understandably mortified when he realized he had shot his daughter. Scott was the one who called 911. "He was quite upset," Rodia said.
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Phil Helsel can be reached at 876-3028, or at phelsel@nhregister.com.
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