DEFENDING YOUR PROPERTY – HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?

Last week, the controversial Detroit shooting from 2009 finally came to a close. But was justice done?

Tigh Croff was surprised when he came home to find two men trying to break into his home. Croff chased one of the men, Herbert Silas, through his backyard and for two more blocks. After Silas displayed his surrender by putting his arms in the air, Croff told Silas that he was going to die, then shot and killed him. Silas was unarmed.

Croff’s original second-degree murder charged was reduced to manslaughter after the court ruled he was “clearly provoked.”

This case reignited debate concerning what a property owner can do to protect property. The question is whether Croff went too far? Was a two-block chase and a sign of surrender still a justifiable shooting to protect ones property?

The jury decided it wasn’t.

Last year, the jury in this case deadlocked. But after a second trial and only two hours of deliberations, a jury found Croff guilty of manslaughter and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. Croff must serve a mandatory two years in prison for the felony firearm conviction, and he faces up to 15 years for manslaughter.