05-14-2015, 08:56 PM
Trippin' Outside the Lines
![[Image: robert-zamora.jpg?w=420&h=236]](https://cbsdenver.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/robert-zamora.jpg?w=420&h=236)
^ Shot to death, Robert Zamora
No charges will be filed against a Boulder man who shot and killed a University of Colorado student who broke into his house.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said Wednesday the homeowner acted in self-defense when he shot 19-year-old Robert Zamora on May 4.
Garnett said the shooting falls under the state's "Make My Day" law which, he says, "permits you to use deadly force against an intruder who enters your house without consent and who appears to be going to use force against anyone else."
Police say Zamora banged on a window at a home where a man and a woman were watching television. The homeowner says he retrieved his handgun before Zamora came around to the front of the house, shattered a glass storm door and burst inside.
Police say Zamora then attacked the resident and they began fighting on the floor. The resident shot Zamora once in the chest, saying he feared for his life.
Authorities believe Zamora was on drugs at the time, specifically "psychedelic" mushrooms. A toxicology test is pending.
Garnett said the case is not so unusual for Boulder. In fact, he says people under the influence of drugs or alcohol mistakenly wander into other people's homes in Boulder 10 times a month.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-charges-f...-intruder/
---------------------------------
One of the most fun and surreal experiences I've had was trippin' on mushrooms with a high school friend and a couple we'd known for like 10 years when we were in our early 30s. I would never recommend doing them alone and then wandering about in that altered state.
I don't think the Zamora kid was likely trying to hurt anybody in this case, but I don't think the homeowner could have possibility known that based on Zamora's actions. Unless there's more to the story, it's sad but understandable that Zamora was shot to death IMO.
(Still, I hate the effin' nickname for CO's castle doctrine law.)
^ Shot to death, Robert Zamora
No charges will be filed against a Boulder man who shot and killed a University of Colorado student who broke into his house.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said Wednesday the homeowner acted in self-defense when he shot 19-year-old Robert Zamora on May 4.
Garnett said the shooting falls under the state's "Make My Day" law which, he says, "permits you to use deadly force against an intruder who enters your house without consent and who appears to be going to use force against anyone else."
Police say Zamora banged on a window at a home where a man and a woman were watching television. The homeowner says he retrieved his handgun before Zamora came around to the front of the house, shattered a glass storm door and burst inside.
Police say Zamora then attacked the resident and they began fighting on the floor. The resident shot Zamora once in the chest, saying he feared for his life.
Authorities believe Zamora was on drugs at the time, specifically "psychedelic" mushrooms. A toxicology test is pending.
Garnett said the case is not so unusual for Boulder. In fact, he says people under the influence of drugs or alcohol mistakenly wander into other people's homes in Boulder 10 times a month.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-charges-f...-intruder/
---------------------------------
One of the most fun and surreal experiences I've had was trippin' on mushrooms with a high school friend and a couple we'd known for like 10 years when we were in our early 30s. I would never recommend doing them alone and then wandering about in that altered state.
I don't think the Zamora kid was likely trying to hurt anybody in this case, but I don't think the homeowner could have possibility known that based on Zamora's actions. Unless there's more to the story, it's sad but understandable that Zamora was shot to death IMO.
(Still, I hate the effin' nickname for CO's castle doctrine law.)