Did man have option of calling police before pulling trigger?
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PORTLAND, Ore. – With a surge in gun sales recently, the use of deadly force by a Vancouver man is a good case study in when it's legal to shoot.
Prosecutors are charging 27-year-old Sean Doucette with the murder of 19-year-old Iosif Dumitrash even though newly released 911 calls reveal Doucette may have feared for his safety when he shot Dumitrash, whom he thought was a prowler in the street outside his house last week.
But even if Doucette was defending himself, he doesn't have the absolute right to use deadly force.
Shortly before 4 a.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 29, Doucette, a former Marine, came across Dumitrash in the street. Doucette's wife, Rachelle, called 911.
"It looks like it's a teenager. My husband's talking to him," she told the dispatcher. "My husband is a security guard. He just got home from work."
Three minutes later there was a flurry of neighbors who called 911, reporting there was a shooting.
"We have a real bad situation going here," said one neighbor.
Then Doucette's wife called 911 again.
"My husband was talking to him in the street and the guy, he just charged at my husband, and my husband is a security guard, and he just got home from work, and he pulled his gun," she said. "And the guy said, Sean said, my husband said, 'Get down on the ground. Stop.' And the guy just charged at him."
Former police officer and longtime lawyer, Akin Blitz, who advises police on use-of-force issues, analyzed the 911 tape for KATU News for clues as to why prosecutors charged Doucette with murder.
"The fact is, he chose to go deal with it himself in contrast with using his cellphone or simply going into the house and calling the police," he said.
Blitz said Doucette might have been justified using deadly force if Dumitrash had been armed with a weapon.
"Deadly force cannot be used to prevent or stop simple physical force," he said.
Police officers have more legal protection when using deadly force than civilians or even off-duty security guards, because they are not allowed to run from dangerous situations.
You should never point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them. Never gamble on what you think the person will do when they see your gun.  In the movies people comply to your demands with the threat of a gun but it doesn't always work that way. There are many things a person can choose to do at the sight of a  gun including taking the gun from you and shooting you.Â
 Sean Doucette made a big mistake and will now be paying for it.Â
Don't shoot people in the back, its hard to think you were in danger when the prowler is running away.
police and media is useing this situation to wrongly punish the true victim here for defending himself. gun or not. the prowler was warned and could see the gun and charged any way. whos to say the prowler did or didnt have a weapon on him at the time,.. doesnt matter , he was nuts. not to mention the prowler may have been able to kill the shooter with just his hands.. the body is just as much a weapon as anything else and like freaking hell am i going to stand there and let some one beat the crap out of me or even kill me with out a fight.
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shame on you for holding the poor man shame on you for making him out to be what he is not and criminalizing the victim. do the right thing, let him go and tell him what a great job he did.
@LordBear Sean Doucette  is not a victim.  He should have just gone back in his house and called the police.  This  is what separates people from  guns.  Sean Doucette will never be able to legally own a gun in his life.
"Someone is out messing about my bidness Imma gonna confront them!", fat guy.
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"No," said the wife "call the police instead."
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"Hells no, Imma gonna show this clown what's good fer and knock some sense inna him."
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Struggle ensues, and fatman isn't as tough as he though is got tussled around. Â The other guy walks away.
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Boom!
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"You deserved that!" exclaimed the big guy. Â "You got what you deserved because I confronted you on something I think you have done. Â Judge, jury, and motherloving executioner!"
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And let this happen through the rest of our land.
Ben....you have a "fat head"
@Benjamin Schniffle Thank for that for very enlightening pathetic view of the scene of events. Maybe you should go back to college and take some classes in English grammar. Clearly you have some security issues if you feel so inclined to insult a man who is not present. Bet that makes you feel like a big bad macho man eh?? Grow up....
It will be interesting all in all...when all the investigation is done. No one will know why the victim died.
Did the "security guard" have sufficient reason to shoot? It may come out someday. Just because someone is on the street and not a threat, does not seem a valid reason to shoot.
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Meanwhile, a bunch of cops blast two Mexican women delivering newspaers... the photos show dozens of rounds through the BACK of the blue truck...because they looked too much like a black man in a silver truck. It's not a huge scandal when the cops do it.This guy will go to prison, but those cops might face disciplinary sanctions.
 @Playanekes Except that it is a huge scandal when you look at the LA area news.  So what's your issue?  Those two women survived and will be well off for the rest of their lives and the correct LAPD will be investigated.  Here a man died because a Douchette decided to play toughman hero, and probably will get away with his overweight behind and have us pay for his healthcare.
Some of you people are idiots. Both families and friends to all involved in this god awful situation probably see this crap and wonder what is wrong with these people. Whether you agree or don't agree to any of this, try and have a little compassion.
 @Kathy1978 We are merely exercising our first amendment rights.
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@deejm2112 Which may I remind you....Doucette (as did so many other service men and women, myself included) fought for you to maintain those rights....so maybe before you convict him and throw him under the bus you should let the legal system do their job or atleast wait for all the facts come to light. It's sad the media has become capable of swaying such simple minded people who are so quick to persecute and convict a man without all the facts. So please, exercise your 1st amendment, cause clearly you're not capable of looking at evidence without prejudice. Maybe you should engage your brain and filter before opening your mouth.
Sweet Cakes, gun story, Sweet Cakes, gun story....rinse and repeat.
 @deejm2112 We drove by Sweet Cakes. The sidewalk is full of people with signs that say "Let Them Eat Cake"--which, if it hadn't have been for them, we'd have driven past without ever knowing the place was there.
 @Playanekes  @deejm2112 The irony being that Marie Antoinette (inaccurately) is most widely attributed to having spoken those words. Sodomy laws in France until around 1791 would have anyone found guilty of engaging in a homosexual affair put to death.Â
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lol...
 @Playanekes The old saying no press is bad press is alive and well.
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Gay couple will get all their freebies and it will thankfully go away until they decide whether to file charges or not.
I believe this person was a prowler and trying to get into cars. Â This seems to go on nightly in different neighborhoods. Â People are getting tired of it. Â I would be thanking my neighbor for taking a stand to defend the property. Â Now one less car prowler is out there. Â The penalty for trying to steal may not be death.....but in this case it was.
 @tlynn What should the penalty be for posting stupid comments, death?
The question asked in the title of the article is simple: "Did man have option of calling police before pulling trigger?"
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Considering what we've read so far, the answer seems to be "yes". He did have a choice.
Perhaps police are not "allowed" to back down, but Washington doesn't have a legal requirement to back down either. I'll wait on the lawyers to figure it out.
 @EnoughAlready You trust the lawyers on this question? How did that work in the case of O.J. Simpson or Robert Blake? Very often, what happens in the legal system cannot be called justice.
@jbloe @EnoughAlready Very often, what happens in the legal system cannot be called justice.
And that's why it's called the Just us system...
Akin Blitz advises police on use-of-force issues? Well good luck with that.
looks like he may have let him go a little since getting out of the service and fighting for our freedom! and letting yourself go to that extent plays terrible games with your psyche.
""And the guy said, Sean said, my husband said,...""
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She sounds confused...maybe she should've rehearsed her lines a little more before being interviewed. Or does she usually refer to her husband as 'the guy'.Â
 @str1ngb3nd3r maybe you should listen to the 911 tape on The Columbian.
 @str1ngb3nd3r Notice also both times she called 911 she identified her husband as a security guard. Who cares, why did she think 911 needed to know he was a security guard who just got off work? I think he was playing cop because he's a cop wanna-be who clearly doesn't have what it takes to be a real one.Â
 @str1ngb3nd3r It's the 911 call, not an "interview"...maybe you should read before commenting.
 @sensible1 I Apologize.Â
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"...maybe she should've rehearsed her lines a little more before calling 911 a second time."
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fixed?
 @str1ngb3nd3r String, have you ever been in a situation of very high stress? Were you in complete control of your mouth? Just a pinch of contemplation . . . .
 @Gravity Works! I can't say what I would do if I was Doucette. I'm locked-and-loaded ready to rock-n-roll if they enter my home...but my car outside is not worth the trouble this guy is going through. Personally, I wish I could put a cap in all of these low-lifes and plant a weapon to justify standing my ground...but I don't roll that way.
 @Gravity Works! She called a second time, after 'the guy', Sean, her husband...'told her what happened'. It's 'the guy's', Sean's, her husband's word versus a dead man.
Just because the police shoot and kill people daily does not mean anyone can.
He was a Marine? Was he in charge of the twinkie's?
Are you a comedian? Are you in charge of Jokes? Cause you failed with this one.....Grow up.
 @beaner I have a friend who used to be a Marine, he did his 4 years to get the college paid for (and a car) and now he is very obese, his idea of exercise is walking through a hotel. I guess some people just rebel after they leave the service.
 @lorivance  @beaner We don't know what he was like before he went into the Marines. We don't know how long he served or why he left the service. We know that he is now an ex-Marine and has moved down to be a gun-toting security guard and has lowered himself to being a murder suspect.
 @pdxd  @beaner  @lorivance  @jbloe There is no apostrophe in Marines, but, at least you didn't refer to them as the "Corpse" like POTUS did.
 @beaner @lorivance @jbloe I want to know if his discharge from the Marine's was honorable or dishonorable.
It looks like to me that Sean Doucette was arrested for one reason. The prevailing political atmosphere of gun shot paranoia.
 @oodathunked No, he was arrested because he shot and killed a man who witnesses said was walking away. That's murder.
 @QuandoQuandoQuando  @oodathunked so now YOU'RE in possession of the autopsy and forensic reports, and know all the answers.  Git a rope, y'all, we don't need a freakin' TRIAL.
@oodathunked
Maybe, just maybe, it is because he killed someone. Last I knew, that is against the law. The dead man was not in his house. According to how I read this, the dead man was out in the street being confronted by a man with a gun.
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What about George Zimerman? Why was he arrested? Politics?
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If that's how you feel, you seem to be overlooking the dead people.
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Maybe it is not gun shot paranoia as you put it. Maybe it is actual paranoia of being shot by a gun that is bothering many people.
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 @jbloe  @oodathunked Yup Politics...
@jbloe@oodathunked "
What about George Zimerman? Why was he arrested? Politics?"
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Al Sharpton and the gang were down there demanding somebody be "arrested."Â Not charged, not convicted, not found guilty of a crime they actually committed... While not being in possession of any of the facts, people were in fact demanding that Zimmerman be "arrested" because they don't understand that you don't just arrest somebody and charge them for something without a good case.So, Zimmerman was eventually arrested when the investigators had a rational case, but up until then, even the President was spouting off about it, and the Usual Suspects were out there demanding arrests with unspecific charges.Â
As both a former police officer AND a former lawyer, Mr. Blitz must certainly be the most trustworthy individual to have ever walked the earth...
You can you anyforce reasonable to fend off an attack,there is something called disparity of force,say if you are a 110lb female and the attacker is a 250lb male it would be justified to use deadly force to prevent or stop an attack,just as if you were say walking from a store and 3 people approached you and were carrying bats ect. and they said they were gonna kill you well they have the means to do so and in this case you can use deadly force against them because it would be unreasonable for you to try to run,they might overpower you.
Normally I would oppose the death penalty, but I figure we can make an exception in Doucette case. It was premeditated murder of an innocent man just walking down the street. Where are all the excuses someone was breaking into a car? No, this guy gets hyped up, challenges an unarmed man and shoots him in cold blood. Feared for his life? Yeah, don't leave your house next time.
HE should never have approached him in the first place. The guy was not on his property. This guy let his "authority" as a security guard take him where he should have been trained not to go off duty. Sometimes the wrong people are given authority they should not have.Â