Wyoming cop broke into a man's house and killed him, but the killing is deemed self-defense

The Castle Doctrine says a person can use defensive force if he believes someone is entering his home unlawfully and forcibly, because there’s a presumption that the person breaking in by force is there to commit violence.

At first glance, it looked like Laramore was justified to shoot Mascorro under the Castle Doctrine.

But then another statute, 6-2-602c, says that presumption of violence doesn’t apply to police who are performing their official duties.

Erramouspe hit a quandary here.

The statute exempts police who are performing their official duties, but it doesn’t stipulate that those duties must be lawful.

Erramouspe hinted that lawmakers can fix this discrepancy.

“By leaving the term lawful out of this statute, the Legislature has decreed that the officer does not have to be acting lawfully, but only in the performance of his ‘official duties,’” he wrote. “Mascorro was not acting lawfully by forcing his way into Laramore’s habitation; however, he was indeed in the performance of his official duties.”

If Laramore had survived, that portion of Wyoming’s self-defense laws wouldn’t have justified him to shoot Mascorro, Erramouspe added.

What a batshit crazy legal justification. They've literally said here that it doesn't matter if the cop is breaking the law or not. If he's in uniform he can kill you and be justified in it. That is insane.

This was the conclusion that was wanted. If this same situation had happened in reverse — if Buck Laramore had broken into police sergeant Mike Mascorro's home and shot and killed him — it would never have been ruled 'self-defense', and Mr Laramore would never see life beyond prison walls.

Look, there was no other options. The cop had to break in to his house because.. checks notes.. he was suspected of using meth.

And honestly, who could have seen that breaking into a meth users house could have resulted in violence?

Thank God the special prosecutors also agree with the flawless logic that I have summarized above.

He was there to arrest the guy for defying him in the meth “investigation”… giving a slightly wrong name and birth date, declining a blood test and refusing to give his address. They found meth in the McDonald’s bathroom but “he was the last one to come out of it” is pretty flimsy. Pretty ridiculous to send an officer and K9 to shake down the McDonald’s bathroom in the first place. Every restaurant I ever worked in would have sent the dog into a frenzy. Hopefully this made an impression on whatever idiot called the cops about that in the first place.

Just break every bone in the cops body till they're dust. It's all gang shit... fuck gangs. Mainstream is just as fucked as the underground.

Erramouspe hinted that lawmakers can fix this discrepancy.
“By leaving the term lawful out of this statute, the Legislature has decreed that the officer does not have to be acting lawfully, but only in the performance of his ‘official duties,’” he wrote. “Mascorro was not acting lawfully by forcing his way into Laramore’s habitation; however, he was indeed in the performance of his official duties.”

A self-defense gun is not a magic kill machine. Nor is it a, “Get off me!” talisman. And it goes without saying a gun is certainly not a, “Look at my gun and go away!” option. Pulling a gun on another human being says, “I intend to kill you to stop what you’re doing.” Pulling a gun is the end of ALL options. Full stop.
Are you an episode of The Rifleman? Pulling and pointing a gun is not an announcement that “I intend to kill you to stop what you’re doing.” It's announcement that you're willing, which is not the same. Unless you're immediately squeezing the trigger, pointing a gun is: “Look at my gun and go away!”
- The difference between the two is simply a squeeze of the finger, which happens under a second. If the person on the other side of the gun does not respond as if the gun pointed at them will immediately be fired, they could die if they presume it's just a "warning", and have a natural right to self defense.
  Real life isn't television.