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SlowDave wrote:Well, I think the "real" situation got stretched a little. In this situation, the man wants his truck back. He doesn't have to beat the snot out of the lady, just grab her, make her "uncomfortable" enough not to drive away, then unlock the door and throw her out and take his car back. (I'm assuming at least the window was open since he was able to "beat the snot ouf of her.")

If you intervened and told the guy to "STOP" right now, worst case is he'd stop and she'd take his car and you'd have messed up his chance of getting his car back. Best case is you'd avoid the lady being killed. If he continued beating her down after I yelled stop, then yeah, he might have made a critical mistake to add onto my recognition mistake that would end with him dead. I think the chance of that happening if he's actually just trying to get his car back and is not way stoned is very low. I'd take my chances with that one, but wouldn't expect anyone else to necessarily make the same decision.

p.s. You got a link to the real situation?

Well, beating a dead horse here, but I never said I WOULD get involved. I said I wasn't sure if I could sit back and watch a guy beat a woman senseless. As any intelligent person would, I would assess the situation as best I could. If another person was in earshot, I'd call for them to call 911. We will never have enough information to make the right decision, but hopefully we observed long enough to make a reasonable decision.

And remember, 'getting involved' doesn't necessarily mean pulling my gun. I have other options. Obviously, "Decision/Avoidance" is number one. Then we move to verbalization; of course, I'm keeping my distance. It escalates from there. Sometimes the escalation takes 30 seconds, sometimes it takes 0.5 seconds. You must have a plan before you get involved. And when dealing with a 3rd party dispute, remember the old saying, "No good dead goes unpunished."

jlangton wrote:

DoubleActionCHL wrote: Still, I'm not sure I can sit back and watch some guy beat a woman to death, domestic or not.

Perfect example of why this mentality is broken...
You drive up on a truck with a man outside the window beating the snot out of the woman inside. You intervene and end up fatally wounding the man, only later to find out the woman had stolen his truck, and he was trying to simply reacquire his property. This really happened locally.
Now...are you so sure you'd intervene in a male/female confrontation?
JL

I completely understand the possibilities. It doesn't mean the predisposition to come to the aid of a woman is flawed, just more complex.

03Lightningrocks wrote: From all the stories I read and hear, domestic violence situations often end up like this.

No doubt. Domestic disputes are perfect examples of the old adage, "No good deed goes unpunished." Still, I'm not sure I can sit back and watch some guy beat a woman to death, domestic or not.

The "what would you have done" is a great question, but a loaded one. We don't have enough information and are required to make a few assumptions. Even if we were really standing in front of the altercation, chances are we wouldn't have enough information and would have to make assumptions. Assumptions, as we all know, are dangerous.

Number one, you have to realize that, as a private citizen, there is no legal requirement to get involved. You may possess a moral or ethical compulsion to get involved, but that's another thing, entirely. Next, we have to assess the situation to the best of our ability and with the time available. This could be 2 minutes or 2 milliseconds.

"Be a good witness," is always good advice, regardless of whether or not you choose to get involved.

I'll automatically make one assumption: a woman being beaten by a man usually needs help. Beyond that, you need to consider the nature of the confrontation; is this a robbery, an impromptu beating by thugs, a domestic dispute, a drug deal gone bad, an undercover police operation (which one is the good guy?), or any one of thousand other scenarios?

Bottom line: There is no right answer. Understand the ramifications, risks and responsibilities, then do what you can live with.

What would I do? If women are being beaten by men, I'd probably get involved. If it was exclusively men, it would depend on my take on the situation. It might sound callous, but I'm a big fan of Charles Darwin. If it's a fight between two societal cockroaches, I'll let them fight it out.