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Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 10:05:00 PM   
litleone8620


Posts: 3669
Joined: 6/12/2006
Status: offline 		There's a story that's been all over the news here lately, and would love to get some of your opinions on it.

Background: A woman named Dixie Shanahan-Duty shot her husband in the back then hid him in her house for nearly a year. She went on trial for this, and was sentenced a mandatory 50yrs for 2nd degree murder.

Now, she's going up in front of the parole board to get a lighter sentence because of the reason she shot her husband. She says she shot him because of the years of well-documented abuse she endured.

Should she get a lighter sentence?


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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 10:07:48 PM   
SexyRed


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Status: offline 		she must have had an incompetent lawyer. if she has documented proof of legitimate abuse, then she probably would have gotten a lesser sentence on self-defense.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 10:28:22 PM   
Dauric


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Status: offline 		Self defense, fine, I have no problem with letting her of on that...

It's the hiding the body for nearly a year that makes it bad. She had evidence of abuse, she shot him in self defense, she -should- have called the police at the time, if nothing else to prevent that oh-so-wonderful rotting corpse smell from pervading her home.

It's a similar vein to that woman who accidentally hit a guy with her car, proceded to drive home and hide her car, with the still living man halfway through her windshield, for three days while he died. It was an accident, she didn't need to hide anything. The crime was not in the act, but in concealing that act.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 10:56:30 PM   
stef


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Status: offline 		It's hard to justify self defense when you shoot someone in the back.

~stef

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 11:22:21 PM   
Dauric


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Status: offline 		Well, there is the documented abuse. She could easly argue that she was in fear for her life, knowing what he would do when he came back.

                                                "He was cleaning his gun when it went off, and shot him in the back... six times..."

$0.02,

Dauric.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 11:32:56 PM   
popeye1250


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From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		Yeah, that's like saying "He fell down the stairs!"
"SIX TIMES???"
She shouldn't get ANY jail time in my opinion if he was that abusive.
Ah, if she hid the body she should have gotten rid of it for good.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/28/2006 11:47:51 PM   
stef


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Dauric

Well, there is the documented abuse. She could easly argue that she was in fear for her life, knowing what he would do when he came back.

Prior abuse does not mean she was in imminent danger at that particular moment, and that's when self defense applies.  If she had just waited for him to turn around, she would likely have been acquitted.

~stef

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 12:03:05 AM   
Dauric


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Status: offline 		Well, I don't think it was the murder that was what got her in the lion's share of trouble,

It was hiding the body for a year. Hiding it makes her look more guilty than she may have actually been. It's hard to know without knowing all the facts.

Just my $0.02

Dauric.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 12:54:05 AM   
sleazybutterfly


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Status: offline 		Was any of this brought up at the original trial?  That is what I am curious of.  It's easy to sit there in prison and try to think of ways to get out.  I have a really hard time believing this was self-defense.  I don't know all of the facts though.  If he was beating on her at the time, he walked off to get something to do more harm..yes...that would be self-defense... If he hit her the day before, and she just decided to shoot him in the back, then to me it's not.
 
Hard to really say without knowing all of the facts from the trial.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 1:24:20 AM   
litleone8620


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Status: offline 		Ok, now i'm back with facts from the trial.

Apparently, Shanahan's lawyers called 17 witnesses to the stand to testify against her husband (scott shnanahan) that he not only beat his wife, but his mother too.

I guess, he had beat her repeatedly three days before the shooting because she wouldn't get an abortion. So on the day of the shooting, while she was laying on the floor, in pain, she heard him load a shot gun, and say something like "This day isn't over. I will kill you"

She says she went to another room to get to a phone, and when he came toward her, she grabbed the gun and shot him.

She then stuffed a towel under the door and didn't enter the room again.
She later married another man, who never wondered why the bedroom was off limits.




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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 1:34:50 AM   
UtopianRanger


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quote:

ORIGINAL: stef

It's hard to justify self defense when you shoot someone in the back.

~stef



HAR!  It sure is....especially when the body has been hidden away, decaying in a closet for a year.




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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 1:39:28 AM   
fullofgrace


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From: fl, usa
Status: offline 		that makes a lot more sense, litleone...and i can see leaving the body in the house and never saying anything about it if perhaps the abuse had pushed her to a point where she was traumatized enough to not be quite in her right mind after the shooting.

but yeah, if he was all "i'm about to kill you for not having an abortion," that makes a hell of a lot of sense.


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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 3:53:59 AM   
meatcleaver


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Status: offline 		The problem with discussing particular cases is that no one has heard the complete trial so cannot really judge. However, if prolonged and systematic abuse has occurred, it is difficult to argue that the sentence is not harsh. The question is whether such a person should be acquited or still found guilty but on sentencing, mitigating circumstances should be taken into account. It is hard to argue againt the mitigating circumstance s if the abuse was systematic and over a long period of time. But I don't believe in automatic innocenece in alledged abuse cases because everyone who kills their partner will alledge abuse.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 3:55:50 AM   
Level


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quote:

ORIGINAL: litleone8620

Ok, now i'm back with facts from the trial.

Apparently, Shanahan's lawyers called 17 witnesses to the stand to testify against her husband (scott shnanahan) that he not only beat his wife, but his mother too.

I guess, he had beat her repeatedly three days before the shooting because she wouldn't get an abortion. So on the day of the shooting, while she was laying on the floor, in pain, she heard him load a shot gun, and say something like "This day isn't over. I will kill you"

She says she went to another room to get to a phone, and when he came toward her, she grabbed the gun and shot him.

She then stuffed a towel under the door and didn't enter the room again.
She later married another man, who never wondered why the bedroom was off limits.


So, how'd he get shot in the back, then?

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 4:18:39 AM   
agirl


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quote:

ORIGINAL: litleone8620

Ok, now i'm back with facts from the trial.

Apparently, Shanahan's lawyers called 17 witnesses to the stand to testify against her husband (scott shnanahan) that he not only beat his wife, but his mother too.

I guess, he had beat her repeatedly three days before the shooting because she wouldn't get an abortion. So on the day of the shooting, while she was laying on the floor, in pain, she heard him load a shot gun, and say something like "This day isn't over. I will kill you"

She says she went to another room to get to a phone, and when he came toward her, she grabbed the gun and shot him.

She then stuffed a towel under the door and didn't enter the room again.
She later married another man, who never wondered why the bedroom was off limits.





Without knowing every detail, (this is still only  scantily described)...it would be impossible to really say.

Just some thoughts............being abused over a period of time would  alter what would be considered, rational thinking.

She could plea, I suppose, that she did it *when not of sound mind* due to the long-term abuse. (Does the US have that plea?)

agirl



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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 4:25:51 AM   
Level


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quote:

Without knowing every detail, (this is still only  scantily described)...it would be impossible to really say.

Just some thoughts............being abused over a period of time would  alter what would be considered, rational thinking.

She could plea, I suppose, that she did it *when not of sound mind* due to the long-term abuse. (Does the US have that plea?)

agirl

 
There are definitely insanity pleas here; one thing that bugs me is that she left him several times and kept going back. That's not an excuse for him to have hurt her, but she should have stayed gone.

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 5:27:25 AM   
Aileen68


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Status: offline 		Supporting her case is the fact that she shot him and hid him in a bedroom for a year...and no one came looking for him.  What does that say about his character that no one would report him missing.   It kind of seems like he wasn't all that nice now, doesn't it?

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 5:30:59 AM   
SusanofO


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Status: offline 		This case is happening in my home state. If you'd read about all of the things she put up with, you mighyt be inclined to say yes. In this case, compassion dictates I say yes. I guess I'm not saying he deserved it but (he really almost did).
He was an unberable_ss_ole and a true meanie. Think Farrah Fawcett in "The Burning Bed".

- Susan

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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 5:34:03 AM   
litleone8620


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Joined: 6/12/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: litleone8620

Ok, now i'm back with facts from the trial.

Apparently, Shanahan's lawyers called 17 witnesses to the stand to testify against her husband (scott shnanahan) that he not only beat his wife, but his mother too.

I guess, he had beat her repeatedly three days before the shooting because she wouldn't get an abortion. So on the day of the shooting, while she was laying on the floor, in pain, she heard him load a shot gun, and say something like "This day isn't over. I will kill you"

She says she went to another room to get to a phone, and when he came toward her, she grabbed the gun and shot him.

She then stuffed a towel under the door and didn't enter the room again.
She later married another man, who never wondered why the bedroom was off limits.


So, how'd he get shot in the back, then?


The autopsy reports show Scott Shanahan was shot in the back of the head. So either the autopsy is wrong, or Dixie Shanahan is lying.


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RE: Self Defense? - 7/29/2006 6:23:28 AM   
philosophy


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Status: offline 		not guilty on grounds of diminished responsibility surely......mens rea is sort of suggested by the holding of the body for so long, but easily explained in a psychological context.......seems like a wrong verdict to me

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