Experts weigh in on Woodbine case
Shooter’s state of mind may be key to prosecutor’s decision
Howard County prosecutors are grappling with whether to file charges in Sunday morning’s fatal shooting in Woodbine in which police say a homeowner killed a man at his door.
The incident occurred around 1 a.m. after Gerarado Espinoza knocked on the door of Charles Dorsey’s house.
Dorsey’s wife called 911 after they were awoken by the loud sound. An attorney for the couple said she stayed on the phone with dispatch for about eight minutes when Espinoza “stopped banging on the front door, walked down their driveway,” out of sight.
But Espinoza soon returned, the Dorseys’ attorney said, and began “screaming obscenities and threatening bodily harm.”
Police say the footage, which they declined to release, records Espinoza saying, “I’m going to f—- you up,” and “You want a piece of this s—-,” while attempting to gain entry to the house.
Police say the footage shows Espinoza jostling the door handle in an attempt to get into the house. Dorsey is heard shouting, “He pushed the door open, he pushed the door open,” police say. After the door released, Dorsey fired one shot at Espinoza, according to police.
It’s this short window of time that matters most, legal experts say.
“It comes down to an evaluation of specific facts of the case,” said David Gray, a criminal law professor at University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of
Law. “The critical question here is was this person legitimately acting in self-defense. Did the homeowner reasonably believe he was in danger of serious bodily injury?”
In Maryland, there is no legal right to use deadly force to defend property. However, there is the right to use lethal force to defend oneself under “reasonable circumstance.” Courts have extended this right to defend homes if an individual feels their life is being threatened, according to Dave Jaros, a criminal law professor at University of Baltimore School of Law.
“If prosecutors are persuaded Dorsey was trying to prevent an illegal entry into his home to protect the lives of their families, that’s the first important factor,” Jaros said.
Gray cited a 2009 killing in which a 21-year-old Johns Hopkins student used a 3- to 5-foot-long samurai sword to fend off an intruder in his backyard. Prosecutors believed the intruder broke into the chemistry major’s home earlier that night. They also said that when the student encountered the intruder hiding under his back porch, the student “reasonably believed he was in danger of imminent death or serious bodily injury” and was justified in striking him. They declined to prosecute him.
Friends of Espinoza who were with him hours before his killing and are neighbors of Dorsey have said Espinoza mistook Dorsey’s home for theirs, and they believed he thought they locked him out as a prank.
While this may be a tragedy, Gray said, what matters most when prosecutors decide whether or not to file charges is the incident itself and what was Dorsey’s mindset.
“What would a reasonable person believe in a situation?” Gray said.
Gray and Jaros said questions that could weigh into a decision to file charges include: Did Dorsey truly feel his life was in danger? Did he believe his family was in harm’s way? Did Dorsey tell Espinoza to go away? Did Dorsey try using non-lethal means to resolve the confrontation before using a weapon?
Dorsey’s state of mind also will matter when determining potential charges, Jaros said.
“An unreasonable but honest belief that you are in imminent danger can reduce intentional murder to manslaughter,” which carries a lighter sentence, he said.
Both Gray and Jaros said the choice to file, or not file, charges is not a statement on whether a homeowner in Howard is allowed to use lethal force to defend their home. Cases like this are situational and rely on the facts.
“If a 10-year-old boy was coming, no one would believe it’s reasonable to use lethal force,” Gray said.
Yolanda Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday prosecutors “are still in the process of reviewing all the relevant evidence” in the case. “As such, our office has not made a final determination as to whether charges will be filed.”
Through attorney Paul Mack, the Dorseys released a statement Wednesday, saying the incident “was a defense of last resort after repeated warnings for the unknown intruder to leave their family home.”
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball in a statement said he is “deeply saddened by any loss of life, particularly in our county and I pray that our community will be guided by our better nature to come together as one ... I have the utmost confidence in both our police and in State’s Attorney Rich Gibson to handle this delicate situation with care and professionalism.”