Self Defense in Kenosha, WI (after Blake Shooting)

 

https://www.avvo.com/attorney-answers/53548-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html

 

When dealing with someone being killed, can a jury ask themselves a question of what if the person killed wasn't at that place? I would like to know what can a jury think about when it comes to a criminal case when somebody dies. Does jury instructions prohibit jury members to ask the questions of what if? What if the aggressor/victim didn't provoke the accused , would they still be alive? What if the accused was not supposed to be there, would the victim still be alive, because they have nobody to threaten? What "what if's" can a jury take into consideration?

 

Jay’s Answer (of Nixon Law Offices, Criminal Defense Lawyer, with offices both in Kenosha and Janesville, WI)

 

Wow, that's a lot of "What if's," unless you are giving a Bar Exam, but the short answer is "yes, juries can ask themselves questions." That is known as the deliberations process, which can go on for days and sometimes even for weeks, when jurors speak confidentially and freely, as a group, and off the record. Nothing said in deliberations can ever be used against the jurors, nor against their verdict, and these talks are not recorded. Notes taken by the jurors are even destroyed afterwards. All that being said, the "what ifs" which you mention would not be something that juries are instructed to consider. Rather, the key questions in self-defense relate to necessity and available alternatives to shooting the aggressor, running away or other escape being the most obvious. If there was a reasonably certain means of escape available, the defendant is still likely to still go down on the murder charge, regardless of the amount of provocation or aggression leading up to the tragedy. Likewise, necessity is a huge issue; the outrageousness of the provocation will not matter if the defendant's life was not in immediate peril due to the aggression, such as the aggressor pointing a gun at the defendant. Short of the defense prevailing on these, self-defense is extremely difficult to win on in WI. Discuss all this confidentially with your lawyer, however, and not on a public website, if your hypothetical defendant might be you, however.