So much going on in this one that its really hard to know right or wrong with the info available. No doubt, exercising your rights does come with liabilities and possible outcomes that are not positive. If he truly felt in fear of his life, he did the right thing because he is still alive. Now comes judgement day when the right thing for him gets scrutiny by everyone else including the courts.
Having the right to do something and doing the right thing may not be the same thing, in this case, he really pushed the envelope too far. Actually, His filming probably was the death blow to his case, His fear factor didnt drive his response until after it got way out of hand, he was trying to make a point with drunks, not smart!. I do believe he was angry to begin with, probably not the first time his peace had been violated by these folks. Judgement lacking, he confronted drunks with a camera and a gun in hopes of creating a you tube moment, what did he think was going to happen, a beer summit at the Whitehouse? After he realized the situation had moved from uncomfortable to near riot, he got scared and did defend himself.
This is a chicken and egg thing, who really was responsible for the final action seems to be predicated on the belief that this was an unprovoked response, while the noise was the initial sign of an issue, the situation grew more dangerous as he attempted to control a dangerous situation that nobody with a brain should have tried to do alone with a camera.
MikeJK, you were 10th mt, would you have tried to defend your position against a mob of drunks alone with a camera and a handgun or retrograde and call for backup? Defending ones post is honorable but there was no danger close until he tried to deal with it inappropriately. My guess is you would choose the second response and live to fight another day. Im pretty sure most of us would do the same, loud music is not a precursor to the need of lethal response; that wasnt an invasion, it was an irritation.
Its not cold blooded murder but certainty isnt the classic case of one defending their property or self against an intruder. I wouldnt want to have been on that jury, it would be really tough for me to support his actions leading up to the shooting and I would have to be able to to set him free without any repercussions but I do think 40 years is excessive, someone was making a point, dont take the law into your own hands, right or wrong, he's got 40 years to think about it now.
Just because we can doesnt mean we should, the law of unintended consequences is always in effect and he should have thought more and acted less, sorry a drunk is dead but they sounded like a bunch of scumbags, he may have done his neighbors a favor. I do believe it will cause confusion and redirect the intent of the Stand your ground law in areas it wasnt designed to deal with, thats the really bad part.