Death Over the Airwaves

The Defendant and the victim, both drunk, quarreled bitterly over their CB radios one night. The victim was legally blind. The Defendant goaded him into arming himself and waiting on his porch for a fight, then repeatedly telephoned the police, falsely reporting an armed man waving a gun outside and steering officers to the victim's home. When the police arrived, the victim — believing they were the Defendant come to make good on his threats — pointed a gun and fired; the officers returned fire and killed him. The Defendant, who never left his own home miles away, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He argued that the police, not he, fired the fatal shots.