Exchange student's death tests 'stand your ground' laws

By The Associated Press

Posted 9:06PM on Thursday 4th December 2014 ( 9 years ago )

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - Attorneys for a Montana man said in court Thursday that his adrenaline was sky-high and he was defending his home when he fired a shotgun four times into his garage in April, killing a 17-year-old German exchange student. In opening statements at Markus Kaarma's murder trial, Montana prosecutors argued Kaarma was the aggressor and he lured high-schooler Diren Dede into his garage by leaving the door partially open and a purse inside. The trial has become another test of ``stand your ground'' laws in the U.S. The laws make it easier for people to avoid prosecution in a shooting by saying they felt an imminent danger, whether or not the person shot was armed. Dede, from the German city of Hamburg, was not carrying a weapon. The German government is closely following the case and has condemned the killing as out of proportion to any risk to Kaarma. Dede's parents, Celal and Gulcin Dede, were dressed in black and sat solemnly in the front row during testimony in the packed courtroom. Kaarma sat stone-faced and silent. Prosecutors said Kaarma didn't give warning before firing four times, with a pause between the third and fourth shot, after an intruder tripped sensors he had installed. ``Neighbors heard the sequence of shots; they heard boom, boom, boom, pause, boom,'' Deputy County Attorney Jennifer Clark said. She held the pump-action shotgun used in the slaying and simulated firing it. She believes Dede had been crouching behind a car after the first shots were fired. ``We'll be back to ask you to hold this man responsible for deliberately taking the life of Diren Dede,'' Clark said. It's not clear what Dede was doing in Kaarma's garage, but defense attorneys claim that Dede, who played soccer at Big Sky High School in Missoula, was part of a band of teenagers burglarizing homes in town. Days before, Kaarma had told a woman that his house had been burglarized twice and he had been waiting up nights to shoot an intruder, according to court records. Paul Ryan, an attorney for Kaarma, said Thursday that there had been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood and Kaarma believed police weren't doing anything about it. He noted that Kaarma didn't know whether the person inside the garage was armed. The defense attorney also said Kaarma doesn't like to be around people and felt targeted and increasingly anxious for the safety of his partner, Janelle Pflager, and their infant son after the first burglaries. An 18-year-old next-door neighbor, Brandon Klise, testified that he thought it was odd to see the garage door at the Kaarma home open after homeowners were told to keep them closed after recent thefts. Klise also said he knew Kaarma felt he was being targeted. Other witnesses included teens convicted of burglarizing Kaarma's home about a week before the shooting. Tristan Staber, 18, said he was the lookout when his accomplice, Mykle Martin, took a wallet, iPhone, marijuana and alcohol from Kaarma's garage. Staber said he heard Kaarma and his wife threaten them when the couple called the iPhone, but Martin said they didn't specifically make threats. Martin, 17, said he wasn't a part of the burglary ring, but he feels his crime was somewhat responsible for Dede's death. ``I was the previous break-in,'' he said. ``I'm the reason he (Kaarma) was waiting for another person.'' Ryan argued that Montana law allows homeowners to protect their residences with deadly force when they believe they are going to be harmed. More than 30 states have laws expanding the self-defense principle known as the ``castle doctrine,'' echoing the old saying, ``my home is my castle.'' That principle came under scrutiny in the 2012 shooting of an unarmed Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, by a neighborhood watch volunteer who was following the 17-year-old. George Zimmerman was acquitted after arguing self-defense.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/12/282593