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A shattered door, gunshots and a death in rural Wisconsin.

Doug Huffman

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http://www.startribune.com/local/14168186.html

DANBURY, WIS. - Shot twice in the chest Sunday night after forcing his way into his ex-girlfriend's house, John Peach turned and ran about 30 feet, fell into a friend's arms and then onto the frozen earth.

The man suspected of shooting him, Minneapolis firefighter and emergency medical technician Kyle Huggett, grabbed a pair of leather work gloves, ran to Peach, took his pulse and attempted to perform CPR, authorities said.

"That would just be reactionary, I would think," said Burnett County Sheriff Dean Roland, adding that EMTs are trained to wear gloves when working with bleeding victims.

But Peach, 29, lay dead on the rural Danbury land Huggett shares with his pregnant girlfriend, Amy Kerbel -- Peach's ex-girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Peach and Kerbel's 5-year-old son slept in the back bedroom of Huggett's modest mocha-colored house.

Huggett made his first court appearance in Burnett County District Court Wednesday morning, ankles shackled, where bail was set at $50,000. Huggett was ordered to stay away from alcohol, firearms and weapons. He posted bail and was released before noon.

District Attorney Ken Kutz said Huggett was not a flight risk. He will be allowed to leave Danbury, about 105 miles northeast of Minneapolis, for work, although it's uncertain if he'll be allowed back at Fire Station 21 while authorities continue their investigation. Huggett has not been charged.

"He cooperated fully with the sheriff's office," Kutz said.

The incident began with a phone call and then volatile text-message exchanges involving Peach, Huggett and Kerbel over two to three hours, said Kutz and Roland.

Authorities said Huggett and Kerbel had been drinking while watching Sunday's Giants-Packers game. (Their blood-alcohol concentration is not yet available.) It was about an hour after the game ended that Peach, who also lives in Danbury, went to Huggett's house with two friends in tow.

Authorities said one friend stayed in the car while the other stood outside as Peach rammed the door with the shoulder of his 5-feet-9, approximately 200-pound frame.

He had texted that he was coming over and there would be "trouble," Kutz said.

Huggett and Kerbel had a plan of their own: When Peach arrived, Kerbel would go into the back bedroom where her son was sleeping and call 911.

After an unarmed Peach broke through the front door about 9:52 p.m., Huggett allegedly shot him with a .38-caliber revolver, authorities said. Peach's two friends fled after he stumbled outside.

About three city blocks away, Huggett's neighbors Willie and Linda Jorgensen were watching television when their police scanner began crackling. Kerbel had been on the line with a 911 dispatcher from the very beginning. Linda Jorgensen, an EMT, rushed over.

Huggett told authorities it was self-defense, but Wisconsin law only allows the use of deadly force when an individual is faced with deadly force, Kutz said. "When you have somebody who's unarmed, as Mr. Peach was in this case, you can't shoot them," he said.

Authorities said they don't know what the men were fighting about. Peach's friend, Jennifer Frazee, said Kerbel and Huggett had been fighting and Kerbel called Peach to intervene.

Court records show that both men and Kerbel have had run-ins with the law. All three have drunken-driving convictions. Peach also has a conviction for battery from 2002.
That same year, Kerbel filed a restraining order against Peach, telling authorities that he drank nearly every night, had threatened to kill her, shot a hole in his living-room wall and was verbally and physically abusive.

A relative at Peach's home declined to comment.

More investigation is needed before charges are considered, Kutz said, adding that in the worst-case scenario Huggett would face second-degree intentional manslaughter. Authorities have until Huggett's next court appearance, Feb. 27, to file charges.

Authorities are in the process of obtaining the contents of the text messages.
 

lockman

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All the Women in WI should be outraged. They can't use deadly force to prevent a strong armed rape! I betcha in the end he walks.
 

tarzan1888

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lockman wrote:
All the Women in WI should be outraged. They can't use deadly force to prevent a strong armed rape! I betcha in the end he walks.

I hope so!



Tarzan
 

Lammie

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What kind of funny water has district attorney Kutz been drinking. Saying that Huggett may be in trouble because Wisconsin state law doesn't allow a person to use deadly force unless threatened with deadly force. A man with a criminal record for battery, known to be physically abusive, a heavy drinker and for 2 to 3 hours makes verbal threats of physical violence then comes to your home with two accomplices and physically breaks the door down to gain entrance and just because he is unarmed you can't use deadly force to protect yourself and loved ones. Come on Kutz, get real.
 

Liko81

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Doug Huffman wrote:
Huggett made his first court appearance in Burnett County District Court Wednesday morning, ankles shackled, where bail was set at $50,000. Huggett was ordered to stay away from alcohol, firearms and weapons. He posted bail and was released before noon.

District Attorney Ken Kutz said Huggett was not a flight risk. He will be allowed to leave Danbury, about 105 miles northeast of Minneapolis, for work, although it's uncertain if he'll be allowed back at Fire Station 21 while authorities continue their investigation. Huggett has not been charged. ...
Authorities said one friend stayed in the car while the other stood outside as Peach rammed the door with the shoulder of his 5-feet-9, approximately 200-pound frame...
Huggett told authorities it was self-defense, but Wisconsin law only allows the use of deadly force when an individual is faced with deadly force, Kutz said. "When you have somebody who's unarmed, as Mr. Peach was in this case, you can't shoot them," he said.

This sounds like a serious miscarriage of justice.He defendedhimself and his family against a manwho broke into his house and he's under suspicion of man 2? Bull. The only reason I might suspect him of any wrongdoing is because was insulting Peach over the phone, which if counted as provokation negates common-law self-defense. Any text message from anyone in that home that in effect said "bring it on" is cause for charges. If there were not any messages to that effect, only insults, then Peach should have had thicker skin.

AND HE HAD TO POST BAIL WITHOUT BEING CHARGED! Where's habeas corpus? You charge me with a crime or hold the door open for me on my way out. What's the point of going before a judge if it's not to hear the charges against me?
 

tarzan1888

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Liko81 wrote:
.........The only reason I might suspect him of any wrongdoing is because was insulting Peach over the phone, which if counted as provokation negates common-law self-defense. Any text message from anyone in that home that in effect said "bring it on" is cause for charges. If there were not any messages to that effect, only insults, then Peach should have had thicker skin..........

Here is the Wisconsin statutes on self defence;



939.48
939.48Self-defense and defense of others.


939.48(1)
(1) A person is privileged to threaten or intentionally use force against another for the purpose of preventing or terminating what the person reasonably believes to be an unlawful interference with his or her person by such other person. The actor may intentionally use only such force or threat thereof as the actor reasonably believes is necessary to prevent or terminate the interference. The actor may not intentionally use force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm unless the actor reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.


939.48(2)
(2) Provocation affects the privilege of self-defense as follows:


939.48(2)(a)
(a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. In such a case, the person engaging in the unlawful conduct is privileged to act in self-defense, but the person is not privileged to resort to the use of force intended or likely to cause death to the person's assailant unless the person reasonably believes he or she has exhausted every other reasonable means to escape from or otherwise avoid death or great bodily harm at the hands of his or her assailant.


939.48(2)(b)
(b) The privilege lost by provocation may be regained if the actor in good faith withdraws from the fight and gives adequate notice thereof to his or her assailant.


939.48(2)(c)
(c) A person who provokes an attack, whether by lawful or unlawful conduct, with intent to use such an attack as an excuse to cause death or great bodily harm to his or her assailant is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense.



That is why all you say when the cops come is, "I feared for my life and I stopped the threat. All other questions will be answered by my Lawyer"


Tarzan
 

KBCraig

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Liko81 wrote:
AND HE HAD TO POST BAIL WITHOUT BEING CHARGED! Where's habeas corpus? You charge me with a crime or hold the door open for me on my way out. What's the point of going before a judge if it's not to hear the charges against me?
My thought exactly!

As I was reading the story, I kept thinking it was a good shoot, right down to performing CPR. I was shocked when I read he appeared in court on shackles, and absolutely dumbfounded when I read he's had to post $50,000 bond and hasn't been charged with a crime!

WTF, over! :what:
 
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