Hero Karen Brown may be charged with murder .

[Eunos]

This is a most interesting case.
From what I understand the woman was bashed but then got up and went over to the robber who was in a car and shot him in cold blood. Is that correct?
Now, while I also agree the scum got his just deserts, I would be much happier if the shooting happened in the heat of the moment and not minutes after the event.
Unfortunately I have to agree with the police and the prosecutors. This case must be bought before a judge and jury to decide. Not the media.

I also think she has done herself no favours by doing two media interviews, for money, at the same time as saying she was to upset to be interviewed by the police. To also refuse a $140,000 offer from ACA in favour of a $100,000 offer from TT because "I wanted to meet Naomi Robson" also looks terrible on her part.

[Birdy]

Got his just deserts? Being bashed and robbed while a despicable act, are no reasonable grounds for pulling out a gun and shooting someone dead. I don't know all the facts, there may have been a valid reason to open fire, but the perpetrator deserved to face the full force of the law, not to have his life ended. She's also finally agreed to be interviewed by police.

[CQ]

yes i agree with your post eunos, but she wil prolly get off in court because of her injuries in case you didnt know birdy she had a fractured skull, eye socket, nose and hand, and possible brain damage.

all she has to say is she wasnt in a normal frame of mind and she will get off. i doubt she was in a right frame of mind, but i thought murder was when you PLAN to do it. i reckon she planned to go outside with her gun drawn, find him and kill him.

but yeh she will get off because of injuries sustained to her head.

[Birdy]

CQ there is a lot we don't know about this case. The reports are that after she was bashed the thief got into a car and she walked over and put a bullet in his head through the window. At that point he was no longer a threat, if it occurred during the attack it would have been in self defence.

Murder doesn't have to be planned but it must be voluntary. If she was so concussed that she had no idea what was going on, then her actions may not have been voluntary, however that will be for the court to decide.

[Eunos]

I agree with you CQ, she will not go down for murder, but I expect manslaughter will get a conviction.
I also agree with you Birdy. No-one deserves to die, and, as the gist of my first post said, we do need this case tested by the system, not the media.

[commonwombat]

Coming from a legal viewpoint and from Sydney, I will tread very carefully.

She has done herself absolutely NO favours by obstructing the police then playing the media circus. On the facts currently on the public record, there looks to be sufficient to warrant murder charges (degree open to speculation).

She, and her legal advisers, may be hoping for a downgrade to manslaughter but they may be lucky to see that happen. If they were looking to play the diminished responsiblity, it is possible but a risky option and their tactic of playing the media game may prove counter-productive. She has refused to co-operate with police from the start yet was capable of a media interview ???

On the facts, it is unlikely that a self-defence plea will wash. The assault had already occured and passed. There WERE other options open to her to take under the circumstances other than shooting to kill.

One may not have particular sympathy for the victim but like most others, there was no reason for him to be killed. There were options open to Ms Brown, such as shooting out his ca tyres thus disabling it, which could well have seen him apprehended and facing charges which would have seen him doing considerable time. For better or worse, she CHOSE her particular course of action (when there were others open to her) and therefore must face the consequences.

[Eunos]

Kneecaps cw, should have done his kneecaps.
Tradition and all that!

[commonwombat]

Kneecaps would have at least seen her in far less of the poo than she's in now.

[CQ]

the other thing i thought was interesting was that she will say she was concussed (which is likely) therefore she didnt REALLY know what she was doing, BUT she was a good enough shot to get him right in the head, relatively small area, especially when you're concussed.

there must be a reason for her not talking to the cops, like her knowing shes in the shit for example.

[commonwombat]

Quite possible, MG.

Correct CQ, she has done herself absolutely no favours with her conduct so far and rather than help any proposed line of defence, she has (pardon the expression) shot holes in it.

Your concussion point is very valid, and it may prove very contentious and the focal point of the entire case.

[Blanch]

I think she will be able to convince the jury that her injuries sustained in the heat of the battle altered her ability to process thought with a clear mind. For this reason she'll effectively walk IMO. I say effectively because I think she'll be found guilty of something with a suspended sentence.

There is obvious difference here to an unprovoked shooting. Let's be honest, none of us here know how clearly she was thinking when she shot him. It's a plausable defence, whether it be true or not.

[stik35]

I don't think shooting the car tyres was an option.

After he'd just smashed her skull in - if he couldn't get away, he would probably have come back and finished her off.

She shot at the car window which is why she got him in the head, her eyes were full of blood at the time so she probably couldn't see too well.

If he had just been wounded, she would probably be a hero.

[CQ]

so why was she refusing to talk to the cops?

[David]

This is a very intersting case - a lot of twists in it. If it was simple self defence then surely she couldn't be charged with murder. What kind of man goes out and bashes a woman that way? It's one of those things where logic says that she has to go to jail, but then how many people wouldn't do the same thing?
p.s. what do security guards have guns for anyway then?

[CQ]

"p.s. what do security guards have guns for anyway then?"

More of a deterrant than anything I reckon.