A 71 year old physician was formally "dismissed attempted manslaughter and assault charges after shooting a man" who followed him to his driveway after a road-rage incident. James Simon will not stand trial on charges of attempted manslaughter and assault with a weapon in the shooting that wounded William Osenton. Altercation began when Simon was driving with his wife and stopped behind Osenton at a red light. Osenton didn’t move when the light turned green, so Simon went around him. Soon after, Osenton furiously tailgated the couple and followed them into their home in Corte Madera, San Francisco. Osenton drove his car into the garage door as it was closing and the confrontation intensified until Simon took out a handgun and fired at Osenton. …show more content…
There is many implications due to drivers being aggressive and begins a road rage when someone cuts them or other instances that make drivers mad for various reasons. However, the moral question here is that whether the situation could have escalated into domestic violence or could have been worse by drawing of weapon. Osenton probably was a mad man before the road rage but there is no way of finding that he was armed or his intention was to hurt Simon, but is the likely the situation in this case. If Ostenson remained on the property after all that come about, I can argue that his presence was still threatening. What if someone chases you with a gun until you run into the house, and remains standing on your doorstep, are they not still a threat and creepy? If Ostenson had decided to de-escalate the situation he should have been gone by the time the victim returned with a weapon. But what if Simon, who could have also de-escalated the situation but took the direct opposite, which is the case here. After all, when Simon came back out of his house with a gun he become the aggressor who threatened Osenton. It is not hard to imagine that Osenton may have been sitting in his car ready to apologize to Simon. That's certainly not beyond the possibility. But that is a …show more content…
Could Simon be attacked or even killed because he thought it was right to just stand back. I think not. It is relieving to hear that Osenton was not killed but Simon's intention showed that he shot him in the torso twice, which to show that he could have killed Ostenson. What if suspect was killed, which happened in many cases but would that justify for the action that he did not do but victim who shot the gun assumed that he was going to get attacked or even killed. There is nothing much said about Osenton other than he followed couple to the home and was furious. If Simon thought that he had done nothing wrong, he could have driven to near police station with Osenton following the couple. Then maybe Osenton realized that he was getting in trouble and might ran away. Simon felt that it was right to go with his gut and take care of the matter in his own. This subject can bring ethical subjectivism where people do have many opinion on regards to this case and can argue that this case is simple enough to say that it is Osenton's fault but there is no facts and no one is right. People can argue this and that but it may come down to moral standard and what is right within the community. All said and done, the decision by judge may have been an easy decision but there is lot of questions to be asked whether firearm could have calm the matter and would this send the right message to the moral community