Someone please tell me how this works.  Guy was selling a pistol and the buyer paid with counterfeit money.  Seller apparently realized this and attempted to stop the buyer from leaving when the buyer ran for an awaiting car, so seller pulls out another pistol and pops off a few rounds hitting the thief in the torso.  Seller has now been arrested for assault.  

http://whnt.com/2017/08/15/huntsville-police-arrest-employee-for-shooting-near-bill-penney-dealership/


ETA:  Before anyone answers, yes I do realize that you can't just go capping people because they robbed you and ran away, you need to be in danger of death or bodily harm before you can shoot.  It just frustrates the hell out of me that people can do this kind of stuff and walk away with virtually no recourse.  I suspect the poor guy wasn't intending to steal the gun though, he just probably put on someone else's pants that morning.  Or maybe he had an appointment to tear down a statue somewhere and was running late...

While I think the guy was Morally justified in using whatever force was necessary to prevent the theft of his property, unless I'm mistaken, Alabama's deadly force in defense of property statute is very narrow, mostly refering to Arson.

13A on Deadly Force

The closest thing that seems to fit is "Robbery" which requires the use of Force or the threat of use of Force to overcome resistance.

What the story sounds like is no force was used by the thief, and when confronted he fled and was shot...

Like I said, as far as I'm concerned good (moral) shoot but not good in the legal sense.

Not a Lawyer

Agreed.  What the seller should have done is call the FBI and report the other guy.

I'd still say not guilty if I were on the jury. I can understand the situation. the judge could put him away from 2 to 20 years and its a felony if the jury found him guilty. maybe a lesser charge. is a there a third class misdemeanor fine for stupidity in the Alabama code.?Remember Don't shoot the robbers/counterfeiters as they run away...

BTW I'm a huge fan of jury nullification so I'd probably not be allowed on the jury

Yeah I know, that's why I went back and edited my original post before anyone replied.  It just pisses me off to no end that criminals can run around doing shit like that with damn near no recourse.  Makes me wonder if we weren't better off back when "he needed killin" was a legitimate defense...