The District Attorney will not charge a man who shot three intruders,
killing one, who broke into his home last month claiming he acted within
the Colorado “make my day” and self-defense laws:

‘Shootings justified’

Man not charged for killing intruder

By Bill Hethcock/The Gazette
Edited by Mike Braham; headline by Stephanie Espinoza

Prosecutors will not charge a Briargate
homeowner who killed an intruder and
wounded two others during a break-in
last month, the 4th Judicial District
Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Dan Zook said a police
investigation and district attorney’s
review found Carter Westfall, 63, was
acting in self-defense when he shot three
unarmed Pueblo men who broke into his
home in the 7600 block of Downywood
Court. The break-in occurred about 1
a.m. Sept. 22.

“We found the shootings were justified,”
Zook said.

Steven Trujillo, 18, died and Toby Rael, 19, and Thomas
Bernal, 22, were arrested when they sought treatment for
minor gunshot wounds at a Pueblo hospital. The District
Attorney’s Office on Tuesday filed charges of burglary and
conspiracy to commit burglary against Rael and Bernal.

Westfall could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Westfall told police the door bell awakened him at 12:45 a.m.,
so he grabbed his .32-caliber handgun and went to answer it.
He opened the door a crack, and the intruders forced it open,
breaking a security chain and knocking Westfall down, an
arrest affidavit says.

Westfall told police he fired twice at Trujillo after the intruder
reached to choke him, then shot at the other two as they ran.
He didn’t know if he hit Rael or Bernal.

Zook declined to discuss specifics of the case because Rael and
Bernal still face prosecution.

But Bill Aspinwall, a former prosecutor with the District
Attorney’s Office, said deciding whether to prosecute so-called
“Make My Day” shootings can be difficult.

Colorado law allows occupants to use deadly force against
intruders if:

The occupant believes the intruder has committed or
intends to commit a crime in the dwelling in addition to
the uninvited entry, or
The occupant believes the intruder might harm any
occupant.

In this case, the shooting seems to be justified even though
the intruders were unarmed and two were fleeing when they
were shot, said Aspinwall, who now is in private practice.

“Whether they’re unarmed or not may not be something you
want to wait around to find out,” he said.

Trujillo was shot inside the house, according to statements to
police. One of the other victims was shot in the doorway and
the third was shot as he ran across the yard.

In most cases, the intruder must be inside the house to be fair
game, but the shots at Rael and Bernal were justified because
they had illegally entered the house before they fled, Aspinwall
said.

In addition to the “Make My Day” statute, other laws allow
people to shoot in self-defense or, in some situations, to stop
a fleeing felon, and may have applied, Aspinwall said.

Aspinwall said as a prosecutor he handled a case in which an
intruder killed by an apartment-dweller died right on the
doorway’s threshold – “halfway in and halfway out.” He
decided not to prosecute.

The law, intended to help homeowners feel secure in their own
dwellings, can make prosecutors and investigators uneasy,
Aspinwall said.

“How do you know if it was an uninvited entry? You talk to the
homeowner,” he said. “How do you know if (the intruder)
intended to commit a crime? He’s dead, so you talk to the
homeowner. It’s a difficult statute for prosecutors to really feel
comfortable with.”

In this case, it remains unclear whether robbery plans or a
wrong address led to the break-in at Westfall’s house.

Westfall told police that Trujillo resembled one of two
teen-agers who came to his house Sept. 12 looking for
someone with a name that sounded like “Romanda.” Westfall
told the strangers he didn’t know anybody by that name.

Zook said investigators found no evidence that Westfall knew
any of the men involved.

Police are investigating the possibility that more suspects were
involved in the break-in.

–
Bernie Herpin
Colorado Springs, CO

http://www.ourpeak.com/herpin

Yahoo Messenger: bherpin_work, bherpin_home, bherpin_laptop

Program Director, Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition

http://ppfc.org

“You need only reflect that one of the best ways
to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen
these days is to go around repeating the very phrases
which our founding fathers used in their struggle for
independence.” Charles A. Beard, American historian