But then I suspected that it was. His defense was self-defense: Man found not guilty of 2019 killing after rare bench trial
This case should never have been brought to trial, and only was because DAs HATE self-defense.
He saw his girlfriend with her old boyfriend and went "berserk." He choked and beat her, attacker her uncle, and then turned on the ex-boyfriend.
And then Johnson, continuing his rage, turned to Blackwell, punching him in the face. But Blackwell was armed with a 40-caliber Glock pistol.
“There was a struggle, and Mr. Blackwell shot him,” Rosenberg said, at least six times. He advised his client to go for a rare bench trial on the second-degree murder charge. There would be no jury.
The trial judge, Lawson Wayne Farmer, would make a finding of self-defense.
Last week, Farmer acquitted Blackwell.
“Judge Farmer said once Mr. Johnson attacked these people in the house, and once Mr. Johnson punched Mr. Blackwell in the face, at that point Mr. Blackwell didn’t have to say, ‘Well, let me see if he’s armed or not.'”
Acquitted on the charges he faced, Blackwell is now trying to rebuild his life.
Which is pretty much the determination that the prosecutor should have made. Justice? He thought he could convince a jury to convict a black man in what was clearly a case of justifiable self-defense. The DA thought he could win, which is all he cares about.
Self-defense is a human-right, and it may be your legal right in Virginia, but not if the prosecutors have their way.
Hopefully, I'm never in that position, and I don't know if this question, or something along the lines, has ever been asked by a lawyer in such a case, but "How many times should I let him punch me, or her, in the face before I use my weapon in self-defense?" Then, I'd introduce the stats on one punch killings, and there are plenty. That, plus the fact that in modern times, many aggressors are not satisfied with knocking you down or out. Then comes the head kick or stomp.
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