Quote:
Originally Posted by wannab
I wonder what would happen if said snake lunged at someone who had a legal concealed weapon causing them to be in fear of their life (George Zimmerman for example?) Could they be arrested if they shot the snake? How about if they shot the snakes owner?
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The short answer is "yes,"
You can always be
charged with a crime. You may have a good defense which prevents you from being
convicted, but by the time you go through a trial you will have gone through great inconvenience and spent a lot of money. Ask George Zimmerman.
Having a snake "lunge" at you would not be justification for killing it, so if that is the extent of the scenario you would probably be convicted of the crime of "killing an animal belonging to another."
If it were actually wrapped around your body and you killed it you would probably be able to convince a jury that you were in fear for your life and were justified in killing it. But again, there's that inconvenient trial that must be paid for.
I can't conceive of a scenario that would justify shooting the snakes owner just because he was carrying it around the square. Even if he threw the snake on you, at that point the owner would not present a danger to you and shooting him would not be justified as self defense.