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intersting HD case in NC -- not prosecuted criminally - but found guilty at trial in Civil Court Login/Join 
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posted
to the tune of $250k sounds like a travesty to me

the assailant clearly met the criteria for use of deadly force.

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https://www.wral.com/in-civil-...lf-defense/18060137/

In civil trial, jury finds Angier pastor did not kill son-in-law in self defense

Pat Chisenhall listens to closing arguments in Harnett County in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him by the family of Christian Griggs. Chisenhall shot Griggs, who was his son-in-law, to death in 2013, saying it was self-defense.

By Tyler Dukes, WRAL investigative reporter

LILLINGTON, N.C. — A Harnett County jury Wednesday found that an Angier pastor is responsible for the wrongful death of his son-in-law, who he shot and killed in 2013.

The Rev. Pat Chisenhall has said 23-year-old Christian Griggs was threatening him and breaking into his home when Chisenhall shot him six times with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle. Griggs was struck once in the stomach, once in the shoulder and four times in the back. The pastor was never criminally charged in the shooting, and said he was fearful for his and his daughter's lives.

The Griggs' family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Chisenhall in 2015, disputing his version of events. They say their son was at the Chisenhall homestead to pick up his then 4-year-old daughter for scheduled visitation.

The case was the subject of an investigative series published and aired by WRAL News in November.

It took the 12-member jury about an hour and a half to return a unanimous verdict that Chisenhall is civilly liable for the wrongful death of Christian Griggs and was not protected by arguments of self defense, defense of his daughter's life or defense of his home. They awarded $250,000 in damage to Griggs' estate, money that will go to his 10-year-daughter Jaden.

Dolly Griggs, the plaintiff in the suit and the mother of Christian Griggs, said after the verdict that the citizens of Harnett County "saw the truth in the courtroom today." She also called on elected officials to act.

"The truth is out there, and now I challenge DA Stewart, Sheriff Coats, Governor Cooper, Josh Stein to look into this case, because Harnett County needs help," Dolly Griggs said. "Please help us here."

Speaking for Chisenhall, who left the courtroom shortly after the verdict, attorney Robert Levin said his client was disappointed in the decision, but did not plan to appeal.

Neither Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats, whose office investigated the case, nor District Attorney Vernon Stewart, who ultimately decided not to press criminal charges, were available for comment Wednesday afternoon following the verdict.

At the center of the civil case was North Carolina's Castle Doctrine, which protects those who injure or kill in defense of their lives or their property while in their homes, workplaces or vehicles.

The jury heard five full days of testimony in the case, which saw evidence from the medical examiner who performed Griggs' autopsy, detectives who investigated the case, Griggs' father and Chisenhall himself, who said on the stand he had trouble remembering many of the details of the shooting.

The pastor of the Abundant Life Worship Center in Angier said on the stand that Griggs had arrived at his home in Angier on the morning of Oct. 12, 2013 hostile and demanding to see his estranged wife, Katie, and their then 4-year-old daughter Jaden.

Chisenhall said Griggs became enraged when he was informed his wife had taken out a restraining order against him for an incident the night before. There was no such restraining order, but Katie Griggs had taken out misdemeanor warrants against her husband the night before for breaking and entering, property damage and domestic criminal trespass.

Chisenhall and his daughter both called 911, the jury heard, and retreated into Chisenhall's home on NC Highway 210 in Angier. He said he struggled to get the door closed with his son-in-law on the other side, and moments later heard the glass in the front window shatter. But following a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, Chisenhall said he couldn't remember anything after that glass broke.

That left him unable to remember interviews he gave to Harnett County sheriff's deputies in the days after the shooting, when he said he shot Griggs from behind a sofa 10 to 12 feet away from a partially busted in window as his son-in-law was attempting to crawl in. Chisenhall told investigators at the time that Griggs at threatened to kill him and his daughter, and that they were both terrified of what would happen if he got into the house.

On the stand, Associate Chief Medical Examiner Lauren Scott said her autopsy on Griggs in 2013 showed that he had been shot six times. Four of those shots were in the back, with upward trajectories that suggested Griggs was either bent parallel to the ground or lying down when he was hit by the Winchester rifle.

Scott also testified that two of the four shots in the back would have been fatal wounds for Griggs, regardless of any medical intervention.

Chisenhall described his son-in-law as a great, but troubled man who he loved and was close with throughout a tumultuous, on- and off-again relationship with his daughter. He presided over their marriage when they were just out of high school at 18 years old, new parents of a two-month old daughter. Griggs wrote the pastor letters while he was deployed as an enlisted soldier, and considered him at one point to be his spiritual adviser.

Chisenhall even baptized Griggs in his backyard swimming pool three weeks before the shooting.

But he said Griggs had a darker side that emerged on Oct. 12, 2013, when he said he saw his son-in-law launched into a "monstrous rage" that terrified him and his daughter. His lawyer argued he had no choice but to take Griggs' life in self-defense.

Attorneys for Griggs' family countered that the shots in Griggs' back demonstrated that he was no longer a threat, and that arguments of self-defense and defense of habitation did not apply.

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Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
 
Posts: 8940 | Location: Florida | Registered: September 20, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just because you can,
doesn't mean you should
posted Hide Post
I think Georgia, where I live, doesn't allow a suit like this if you are found not guilty or no billed.


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Posts: 9456 | Location: NE GA | Registered: August 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of bashman
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Sig209:
“Griggs was struck once in the stomach, once in the shoulder and four times in the back.”

That’s the money quote. Castle Rule or not, shoot someone in the back (or 4 times), and self defense goes out the window.


A man who does not read has no appreciable advantage over the man who cannot read.
 
Posts: 1192 | Location: Charlotte | Registered: July 05, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by bashman:
quote:
Originally posted by Sig209:
“Griggs was struck once in the stomach, once in the shoulder and four times in the back.”

That’s the money quote. Castle Rule or not, shoot someone in the back (or 4 times), and self defense goes out the window.


iirc they showed how the assailant had pushed through the window and was on his hands and knees - basically half in / half out of the house - during the B and E so the shots were at a downward trajectory at a still 'active' assailant

------------------------------------


Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
 
Posts: 8940 | Location: Florida | Registered: September 20, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
posted Hide Post
Great example of why it's better to use a more substantial caliber.

Yes, it shouldn't matter but in the end everything matters if you go to trial.
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
semi-reformed sailor
Picture of MikeinNC
posted Hide Post
Frankly, if the DA didn't charge the guy criminally, I don't see why a judge let the case go forward in civil court.

But, the level of culpability in civil case are much lower than criminal cases wher beyond a shadow of a doubt is the rule. While in civil court it is only 51% or a preponderance of guilt....

Most people don't understand you can have a person turn, while you are firing, and the suspect gets hit in the back or elsewhere...



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
 
Posts: 11247 | Location: Temple, Texas! | Registered: October 07, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Do No Harm,
Do Know Harm
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 220-9er:
I think Georgia, where I live, doesn't allow a suit like this if you are found not guilty or no billed.


NC doesn't allow a suit if it is ruled a "Castle Doctrine" or whatever case.

Evidently, this one was not.

Which is, frankly, scary as hell.




Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here.

Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard.
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Posts: 11446 | Location: NC | Registered: August 16, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
More persistent
than capable
posted Hide Post
Article stated the 10 year old girl was 4 at the time of the shooting. IIRC, NC castle doctrine at that time did not absolve a stand your ground shooter from civil liability. That law has been updated to reflect same.


Lick the lollipop of mediocrity once and you suck forever.
 
Posts: 1083 | Location: North | Registered: August 27, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
posted Hide Post
quote:
...said his client was disappointed in the decision, but did not plan to appeal.
I hope he changes his mind. It's bullshit to be get a verdict like this when you weren't indicted criminally.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23102 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Don't Panic
Picture of joel9507
posted Hide Post
quote:
Griggs had arrived at his home in Angier on the morning of Oct. 12, 2013

It's a 2013 incident. I don't recall precisely when we improved the Castle Doctrine laws but I think it was after that.

There are also some muddying factors, per the article - the shooter claiming he can't remember some things makes his recollection of other things far less credible. And the shots in the back don't help him one bit.

I did get a briefing in 2008 in the training before my first concealed carry permit, and at the time once the reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm had ended, the right to use deadly force in self-defense also ended.

Shots in the back, depending on whether the perp is lying on the ground harmlessly or turning around to get a weapon, obviously - aren't going to help one claim a 'reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm' as a defense.
 
Posts: 15001 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Ayoob has covered scenarios similar to this in the past. I can see how crawling through a window might expose one's back, especially after being shot in the shoulder. Hope he reconsiders appealing, but it sounds like he wasn't a good witness on his own behalf.
 
Posts: 1359 | Registered: October 19, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
posted Hide Post
quote:
to the tune of $250k sounds like a travesty to me


With all of it going to his granddaughter, I wouldn't appeal. How much has he already spent defending himself?
 
Posts: 10827 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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