In the latest case to raise questions about the legality of
asserting self-defense in a fatal shooting, Catoosa County District
Attorney Herbert Franklin said he was declining to file charges
against Joe Hendrix
"Hendrix was concerned that if the man got by him, his girlfriend in
the house would be defenseless," Franklin said in a statement.
Under Georgia's 2006 "stand your ground" self-defense law, citizens
have no duty to retreat if they feel threatened, in or outside the
home, Franklin said.
Authorities say Ronald Westbrook, who suffered from Alzheimer's
disease, walked up to Hendrix's front door in Chickamauga, Georgia,
carrying a flashlight and some mail, and began ringing the doorbell.
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Westbrook, who lived about 3 miles away, then walked to the side and
rear of the house, the prosecutor said.
Hendrix, took a gun and confronted Westbrook, ordering him to stop,
but Westbrook kept advancing, Franklin said. Hendrix then shot
Westbrook once in the chest, killing him.
"Hendrix was concerned that if the man got by him, his girlfriend in
the house would be defenseless," Franklin said.
Westbrook's widow, Deanne Westbrook, said on Friday her husband was
seeking help when he rang the doorbell at Hendrix's house.
"It was early in the morning and it was cold outside," she said.
Deanne Westbrook said the district attorney should have taken the
case to a grand jury to decide whether charges were filed.
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"To me, (Hendrix) is getting away with killing an innocent man," she
said.
Franklin said he could find no evidence to dispute Hendrix's
statement that he felt threatened when Westbrook approached his
home.
The state's stand-your-ground law came under scrutiny after the 2012
death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Police in the central Florida town of Sanford initially declined to
arrest shooter George Zimmerman, citing that state's
stand-your-ground law and evidence that the unarmed Martin was
getting the better of Zimmerman in a struggle.
Last November, a national coalition led by activist Jesse Jackson
filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have Georgia's statute ruled
unconstitutional.
(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Dan Whitcomb, Lisa Shumaker
and Ken Wills)
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