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I just read the arrest affidavit and IANAL, but I think that Mr. Smith actually had a pretty good case for self defense up until the point when he opened his big mouth. A good defense attorney probably could've argued that he was just brandishing to stop a threat with a deadly weapon (road rage driver's car), but a bump in the road caused him to accidentally discharge. A good defense attorney would've negotiated the lesser charge of brandishing in exchange for a guilty plea. A great defense attorney would've gotten him a sympathetic jury through jury selection finesse and then gotten him off on all charges. However, all hopes of such are dashed with his big mouth, "Officer, honest, I was trying to kill the driver, but unfortunately, I missed and hit the tires."

It's amazing exactly how shallow the shallow end of the gene pool really is.

Keith B wrote: So why do you think he thought you would shoot him? Did you display a weapon?

Didn't I just say that if I were to shoot him, I'd be stooping to his level? Of course I didn't display a weapon. However, I couldn't think of any other reason for him to stop 25 yards behind me, wait for some traffic to almost pass, and then run at full speed through the red light so that passing traffic would be between me and him.

sjfcontrol: he drove so close to me that his rear view mirror hit mine. The crazy idiot destroyed both our rear view mirrors. It was very expensive to fix. Ugh....

I wouldn't shoot these idiots, BUT if I were on the grand jury, I'd try my hardest to persuade the others on the grand jury to "no bill" the shooter. However, I've never been picked for jury duty, much less grand jury duty.

Bennies wrote:I experienced almost the same exact situation on woodlands parkway oneday. I was in the right lane and this guy pulls up about a foot or two from my bumper and hangs out although the left lane wAs empty. I gave a little tap on my brakes( and I do mean just a small tap not a slam) so the guy would give me at least a car lenght of space if not the proper following distance. The guy goes ballistic, speeds around me and infront, and then proceeds to slam on his brakes repeatedly. He gives me the bird and tries to slow me. I don't know if he was going to try and force me off the road or what his intentions where. This is where my story differs from the op. I was carrying and Wanted to avoid confrontation so I exited at grogans mill at the very last second where he could not have followed as he was infront of me. Scary. I should have called 911 and kick myself to this day for not doing so. People are nuts!

The exact same thing happened to me, too. Except I wasn't so lucky. I exited the highway and the guy followed! The light was red after the freeway exit, so I stopped. He ran over my rear view mirror and blew through the red light. Where do these road raging idiots come from?! Now, here's where my story DIFFERED from his: I did NOT shoot the guy even though I was armed at the time. This happened to me a couple of years ago.

Just yesterday, the exact same thing happened to me except that he didn't run over my rear view mirror. Instead, after we exited the freeway, he stopped about 25 yards behind me. Then, he guns it and drives through a red light when he passes me. I think he was afraid of being shot. That's why he stopped behind me. He was deciding how best to pass me and decides that driving very fast past me and blowing through a red light just before some traffic passes would be best so that I couldn't get a clear shot at him and couldn't follow him. What I don't understand is, if he knew his behavior of road rage may get him shot, then why did he do it?! BTW, I wouldn't even dream of shooting him. Shooting him would mean that I'd have to stoop to his level.