In Glen Burnie Maryland, Matthew Pinkerton shot a home invader in the wee pre-dawn hours of September 15, 2013. After Mr. Pinkerton refused Kendall Green at the door at about 2:00AM, Green forced his way through the door and charged Pinkerton and his wife. Pinkerton commanded Green to stop but he continued to advance on Pinkerton and his wife. At that point, Pinkerton shot and killed Green.
Under Texas law, this would be a justified killing and there would be little chance any prosecutor would file charges. In fact, it appears that even in Maryland Mr. Pinkerton was well within his lawful (and moral) right to defend himself and his wife. The law notwithstanding, the state of Maryland has charged Matthew Pinkerton with 2nd Degree Murder on the sole basis that he “should have called 911”.
The money quote:
There is no nationwide average response time for a 911 call, however unless they are faster than 1,310 ft/s, there really is no point in calling 911 in the case of a hostile home invasion. While the Assistant State’s Attorney, Glen Neubauer, maintains that he should have called 911, and that even the act of grabbing the gun in the first place is “bizarre behavior in itself,” Pinkerton’s lawyer, Peter O’Neill, said it best when he acknowledged that, “By the time 911 is called, he’s dead.”
The only bizarre behavior we can see in this situation, beyond the act of home invasion itself, is the state’s decision to charge the victim, Mr. Pinkerton with murder.
While the law favors Pinkerton and he will likely be acquitted, it might be time to start educating Maryland jurors about jury nullification.
Even if his defense is successful, Mr. Pinkerton will have had to deal with the staggering emotional and financial stress of going through an arrest and prosecution. We hope he has a legal defense fund set up to offset the costs. Once this whole thing is over we encourage the Pinkertons to relocate to Texas where they can start fresh and their right to self-defense will be respected.