Spokane man who claimed self defense found not guilty

[M-Quigley]

http://www.krem.com/news/local/spokane- ... /438900259" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It doesn't say why or how the fight stopped, but if the person allegedly being attacked is walking away with the person of her own free will, how physically involved should a person get at that point?

On July 21, 2015, Bushnell, then 27-years-old, was walking northbound along 5th Avenue and Altamont street when he came across 45-year-old William Poindexter and his girlfriend. Police said Bushnell saw Poindexter attacking his girlfriend and Bushnell decided to intervene.

Authorities said Bushnell and Poindexter got into a physical fight when Bushnell tried to stop the assault. Police said Bushnell was armed with a knife and Poindexter was armed with a small bat.

At some point the fight stopped. Poindexter and his girlfriend were walking away when authorities said Bushnell retrieved a handgun, returned and shot Poindexter two times in the back. Poindexter would later die.

Prosecutors charged Bushnell with murder arguing that Bushnell did not act in self-defense when he shot Poindexter.

[DontTreadOnMe]

From reading some of the coverage, I'd guess the jury didn't believe the girlfriend about she didn't need help, they were just walking away, she never saw her her bf use the bat he was carrying, etc.

A lot of what she said was apparently inconsistent with physical evidence and the responding officer's observations. There was also a no contact order between herself and the bf that she was apparently trying to get lifted.

Partial coverage is available at https://twitter.com/KREMLindsay" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but it doesn't look like she was in court for any of the defense's witnesses so I'm not clear what they heard from the prosecution that caused them to return not guilty verdicts.

[M-Quigley]

Thanks for that additonal info and link. Back in the day I had to respond to complaints of some guy beating on some female in the parking lot where a bar was located, only to have the female party get mad at us for responding. One woman had one eye swollen shut, blood coming out of her mouth, yet she said, "Why don't you mind your own ---- business!" and then tried to assault me.

According to the twitter link, the reporter said the jury decided he can be reimbursed for the legal expenses, which is nice. It's bad enough on the person to get charged, get sent to jail, have your name in the paper, (and we all know all of the media is going to fairly portray the person and the situation ) and go thru the stress of wondering if you're going to spend the rest of your life in prison, only to get acquitted and face hundreds of thousands of dollars or possibly more in legal debt. (some cases have gone to the millions)

It seems strange though that they have a system that says you can be acquitted but then the jury has to decide afterwards if your actions were reasonable in order to get reimbursed.

[A_F]

my boss at a fast food place told me 25 years ago 'if a couple gets in a fight, just call the cops and stay out of it'.