Texas man found not guilty in murder trial: "After deliberating for just less than an hour, a jury came back with a verdict Monday afternoon in the murder trial of Kurtis Glover of Livingston. Wesley Tudor, 27, was found not guilty and acquitted on all charges of murder for the September 2007 shooting death of Glover at a house party just south of Huntington off U.S. 69. Glover, 23, was shot point blank between the eyes with a .25-caliber handgun after he allegedly tried to pull Tudor from his vehicle during a confrontation. Tudor has maintained that he feared for his life when he fired his gun at Glover and acted in self-defense. After having left the party earlier on the night of the murder, Tudor later returned to look for his cousin, whom he believed Glover and his friends had beaten up. Tudor previously testified that he pulled out a gun which was kept in the center console of his grandmother's truck, which he had been driving that night, after Glover hit him in the face. However, Tudor's defense said that the men approached Tudor's vehicle and threw the first blows, which caused him to use deadly force on Glover. "My client was dealing with a pack of violent men," Deaton said. "I find it hard to believe that the state doesn't think a serious altercation occurred before the gunshot."


Jury believes Ohio man who said he killed in self-defense: "Colton Groves, 19, was shot four times outside a Far West Side home where he went for a party. Cory Esson awoke to a party that was out of control in his own house, then fatally shot one of the revelers he had followed outside. He said he acted in self-defense. Yesterday, a jury found him not guilty in the death of Colton Groves, which occurred shortly after 5 a.m. on Jan. 26. Esson, a 21-year-old welder, said his roommates hosted the party at 806 Westmead Dr. on the Far West Side. He told police that he went to bed after having half a beer but woke up because of the noise. He demanded that the 10 people he didn't know leave the house. Someone threw a beer bottle or a rock at the house on the way out, he said, and he went outside to investigate with a .40-caliber pistol in his pocket. Esson confronted two men in a car and again ordered them to leave. What happened next was in dispute during Esson's murder trial in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. According to testimony, Esson pistol-whipped Groves, 19, and shot him four times during a scuffle on the ground. Assistant County Prosecutors Laurie Arsenault and Lauren Cerminaro said that Esson provoked the situation with Groves and had a duty to retreat before using deadly force. They said Groves and his friend were trying to leave when Esson grabbed Groves by the collar and ripped him from the passenger side of the car. Esson denied that, but he did admit to firing 10 shots. Defense attorney Robert F. Krapenc told jurors that the 140-pound Esson feared for his life and tried to retreat from the struggle but that Groves kept coming at him. In her instructions to the jury, Judge Julie M. Lynch summed up self-defense by writing, "You must consider the conduct of Colton Groves and determine if his acts and words caused the defendant to reasonably and honestly believe that he was about to be killed or to receive great bodily harm."


Iowa man shot in pizza robbery gets 27 years: "A Des Moines man who was shot when he tried to rob a pizza delivery driver in March was sentenced Monday to 27 years in prison and will not be eligible for parole for at least 7 years. The plea deal imposes back-to-back prison sentences on Kenneth Jimmerson for second-degree robbery, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent and a weapons charge. Jimmerson, 20, was shot at least three times when he attempted to rob James William Spiers III at gunpoint outside a south-side apartment complex. Jimmerson's second-degree robbery conviction requires him to serve at least 70 percent of that 10-year sentence. The other charges have no required minimum time before he is eligible for parole. Spiers, who delivered for the Pizza Hut restaurant at 4100 S.E. 14th St., reportedly grabbed Jimmerson's gun and fired several shots from his own handgun. Jimmerson fled the scene empty-handed, and was later hospitalized and arrested. .The botched robbery sparked a public outcry days later when Pizza Hut said Spiers had violated its no-weapons policy, even though he had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon. Spiers was fired, and immediately became a symbol for gun rights advocates. He was offered jobs by employers from around the country, and someone launched a Web site in his honor. State Sen. Brad Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, called on Iowans to boycott the Dallas-based pizza chain. Pizza Hut offered Spiers an undisclosed severance package, counseling and help with a job search."


They hate our guns? : "These people: most politicians and bureaucrats, along with most modern academics and media figures, do not just hate our guns. They hate people, all of us! They especially despise and hate those who do not swallow their lies of `reasonable control' or `the common good,' who are not willing to be controlled and robbed for any reason. They hate and fear people - especially free people! If all the guns on the planet magically vanished, they'd still be terrified of us because their reason for living is control and they have clear plans to control every knife, screwdriver and ice pick on the planet if that's what it takes to control the people."