Self-Defense Update - Aaron Hernandez Gun Tats Can Be Used Against Him ... Judge Rules

I’m just a barracks lawyer, but it appears to me this could set a significant legal precedence for self-defense cases. Federal Rule 404b states that in self-defense cases you cannot use things you learned about an assailant after the fact in your defense. If you learn a perp you were forced to shoot had record of violent criminal behavior AFTER you shoot him you cannot use that as justification for shooting him. Rather you may only use knowledge of things you had before or during the incident to justify your actions. In other words you can’t kill the right person for the wrong reason. Unless of course the prosecution or plaintiff’s bar opens the door for the admission of the perp’s past history into evidence by claiming the perp was a good citizen who would “never do anything like that”.

However, if the perp who is threatening you has his criminal record tattooed on his body for you to see telling you he is a dangerous man who has killed before, then you could conceivably use such information to demonstrate that you were reasonably in fear for your life when this person confronted you. The fact that he was possessed of the intent to kill was illustrated on his skin, as in the case of Aaron Hernandez. This court has opened the door for the admission of such evidence in future cases. Much like in the frontier days on the plains, if a band of Indians appeared wearing war paint you knew they weren’t hunting animals.

The law-abiding citizen must be prepared to use the law and game the system to his own advantage just like criminals are doing. Especially given the current political climate and the fact that anti-self-defense Leftists run our criminal justice system.