Self defense for the defended

The Senate Judiciary Committee in Phoenix is working on a plan to reconsider legislation concerning self defense court case rulings.

The Senate is planning to change a self defense law that has been approved only last year. This law will be changed to say that any court case that has not been heard in court will be heard according to the rules of this new law. So, in effect, the law made last year will now apply to any case that has not been discussed in front of a jury yet. This change will affect court cases such as the case of Harold Fish who is a retired Tolleson citizen convicted for murdering a hiker in 2004.

Fish argued that he acted in self defense and the jury rejected his arguments. His case was heard in under the law at the time stating that a defendant has to prove whether he or she was actually acting in self defense when they used physical force against another person. This law was changed in April 2006 and in the new law the burden of proof was moved on to the prosecutors to prove that a defendant was indeed acting in self defense. All this took place before Fish's trial started but the judge ruled that Fish could not depend on this new law in his court case yet. According to Fish attorney the new law would indeed have ruled on the acquittal of the client. The conviction of Fish is now on appeal.

In the meantime more and more people are interested in getting their own self defense lessons. As the trust in the law and the police is waning people feel that they should be ready to defend themselves if a situation occurs. One example of community efforts to make people feel safer is the lessons taught by a martial arts instructor in Fair Haven. If people feel safer it is less likely for them to be intimidated by criminals.