When Is Self-Defense Not Self-Defense?

When the prosecutor and judge say that it is not.  Read it here in the Philidelphia Daily News article by Mensah Dean.

In this case, a 57-year-old, retired Marine with a heart and vascular condition was chased down in the street by a group of three thugs, one of whom pinned him to the ground.  The victim, Jonathan Lowe, fought back with a folding knife and managed to stab his attacker, 51-year-old Loren Manning, Jr., severely enough that Manning died.

Lowe was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.  Manning had two stab wounds in his back, though likely it was the wound in his neck that proved fatal.  I can't possibly imagine how while being attacked with a metal pole, knocked to the ground, and choked, in a life-and-death struggle on the street, Lowe could possibly have been so vicious as to stab the poor thug in the back.  (In case you are wondering, that is meant as sarcasm.)  Both the judge and the prosecutor are little better than criminals themselves.

Manning had 18 criminal convictions and was awaiting trial in a case where he "allegedly" beat and robbed a woman a couple of years ago.  But I'm sure Manning was "turning his life around". 

There are prosecutors who would have the good sense to never charge someone in Lowe's position.  There are judges with enough sense to have thrown the case out if it were brought.  Unfortunately even in the most justifiable cases, a person cannot count on good sense within the legal system.

I tend to think that Lowe would have done better in front of a jury.  I perfectly understand that once the attack was stopped, Lowe was still heated.  However, his behavior worked against him in the wussified, sheltered understanding of the judge who was probably never in so much a schoolyard shoving match, let alone a fight for his life.

When you are on the ground, it is neither the time nor the place for restraint or mercy.  That was true in this case as well as in the Martin-Zimmerman case.  Once the attack stops, though, aggression must stop, immediately.  I have my doubts about it making any difference in this particular case as the judge and prosecutor seem to have already made up their minds to find Lowe guilty of something.  We can't have the people of Philadelphia killing off the judicial system's best customers, after all.

We can hope this travesty will be overturned on appeal.  Think it through and learn.