Anaylsis of Philadelphia subway confrontation with Andrew Branca

10 months ago
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Mr. Andrew Branca invited me on his show to discuss the confrontation between two homeless folks on a subway platform in Philly. The scuffle, which was caught on cell phone video, resulted in the death of one of the men. We discuss how we would defend the survivor. Lots of rabbit holes are explored! Note that this is an initial reaction and issue spotting exercise, which happens all the time in a public defender's office. Not all of the issues raised would pan out, but you need to think about the case objectively without jumping to conclusions.

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From Andrew's description:

Two men, one much larger than the other, get into a physical confrontation on a Philadelphia subway platform, with the larger man holding the smaller against a support column.
Suddenly the smaller man--now identified as Chaz Wearing--throws a punch, then another, sending the larger man staggering off the platform and onto the tracks--seconds before subway car enters the station and runs over the fallen man with fatal results.
Was this death lawful self-defense on the part of Wearing? Was it a genuine accident? Was it involuntary manslaughter--the criminal charge that has since been brought against Wearing?

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