Exercising the right.

Justifiable Self-Defense

Bobby T. Davis of Homing, Oklahoma, was staying at the Regency Inn & Suites in Topeka, Kansas, on January 20th when he heard a knock on the door at around 8 p.m. Armed with a handgun, he opened the door with the chain in place. Anthony D. Hamilton, 28, asked if he could use the phone and, when Davis refused, forced his way into the room, grabbed the 73-year-old man by the throat, and demanded money.

According to a Topeka Police Department account of the incident, Hamilton was about to strike Davis when the elderly hotel patron shot him once in the chest. Hamilton stumbled from the room, collapsed on the sidewalk just outside the door, and was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

The January 23rd Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the attempted robbery was not Hamilton's first in Topeka. In 1996 he had been convicted on one count of the crime and sentenced to 29 months in prison. "Court records also indicated," the Capital-Journal noted, that he "had been slated to go on trial in June for burglarizing five Topeka businesses and possessing a crack pipe."

A police spokesman told reporters that the department believed that Davis had acted in justifiable self-defense, so no charges were expected to be filed against him. The case was, however, routinely referred to the district attorney's office for a final ruling.

Caller I.D. Identifies Would-be Robber

An alert armed citizen and caller I.D. recently combined to thwart a robbery and enable police to promptly apprehend the suspect without a shot being fired.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on January 23rd, Travis Suomi, 23, began banging on the front door of a home in Port St. Lucie County, Florida. Unbeknownst to him, the homeowner, C. Lanie Norvell, once served as county sheriff and carries a handgun in his robe when he answers the door late at night.

When the retired lawman opened the door, Suomi asked if he could use a telephone. After Norvell handed him a cordless phone, Suomi made a call in the front yard, then returned the device to Norvell and announced his intent to rob the former sheriff. Instead, Norvell drew his .38-caliber pistol from a robe pocket and ordered the man to leave. Needless to say, the startled and frightened thug quickly complied.

Suomi's front-yard call had been placed to his girlfriend. About 10 minutes later, apparently using caller I.D. to determine the number of the phone he had used, she tried to call him back. As described by the Associated Press on January 25th, however, "Norvell answered, and since he also has caller ID, he was able to take down the number the woman was calling from. It turned out to be Suomi's home phone number."

Norvell passed the number along to the police, who had little trouble locating Suomi. He was arrested and charged with home invasion robbery.

Forced Entry Meets Deadly Force 

At around 2 a.m. on January 14th, 19-year-old Clarence Dillard knocked on the back door of an Atlantic City, New Jersey, apartment shared by Dennis Burleigh, 54, and a girlfriend. Burleigh, after arming himself with a handgun, went to the door and, with the safety chain still in place, cautiously opened it. He recognized Dillard as an acquaintance, and the two began talking. Suddenly, according to authorities, the youth kicked in the door and pushed his way into the apartment. Two masked and armed accomplices -- Raymond K. Cox, 36, and Massai Burgess, 26 -- also burst into the home.

Burleigh opened fire, striking Cox in the lower back. The intruder fell to the floor just outside the kitchen door. When police later arrived in response to a 911 call placed by Burleigh's girlfriend, they found the still-masked Cox lying dead atop a loaded shotgun, with a semiautomatic handgun within his reach.

Burleigh also fired at Burgess, striking him in the mouth. The seriously wounded man was, however, able to run from the apartment and flee the scene in his car. A friend later took him to a hospital in Somers Point, where he was initially reported in critical condition. He was subsequently charged with armed robbery and conspiracy.

Clarence Dillard was not injured during the violent home invasion. He escaped on foot, but was arrested three days later and charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Suffering a gunshot wound to his left hand, apartment tenant Burleigh was treated at the Atlantic City medical center and released. His girlfriend was not injured. No charges were filed against him, and when a reporter asked Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz if the gun Burleigh had used in self-defense was licensed, Blitz pointed out that even in heavily gun-controlled New Jersey individuals are not required to have permits to keep guns in their homes.

Doing the Best He Can

Mohammed Alwishah, a clerk at the Y & M Market in Coachella, California, had been robbed twice at gunpoint within the past four years when, on January 25th, yet another armed thug and an accomplice sought to rob the store.

The two men entered the establishment shortly after noon. One took a six-pack of beer from a cooler and went to the counter as if to buy it. The second man suddenly pulled a gun and, pointing it at Alwishah's head, announced a robbery. This time, however, the beleaguered clerk was ready. He quickly pulled his own handgun and opened fire, striking the gun-wielding man in the leg and stomach. The accomplice escaped unharmed by hastily exiting the store and fleeing with two other men with whom he had been seen in front of the store earlier. Police recovered a 9 mm handgun at the scene.

Police tentatively identified the wounded man, but his name, age, and hometown could not be readily confirmed. He was taken to a Palm Springs medical center, where his condition was reported as stable.

The next day's Palm Springs Desert Sun quoted Alwishah, who was not harmed, as saying, "If they're going to kill me, I have to do the best I can." Recalling that he had stayed calm during the ordeal, he added: "I thank God everything is all right now."