John Thomas Capron Archer February 25, 2015
draft for mt
Your honor, I would like to close by returning to returning to an idea from our opening; namely, that this is a case about a grandfather who was only trying to protect himself and his grandchildren. The Commonwealth’s duty today was to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the killing of Mr. Kumar by Mr. Hardee was premeditated, committed with malice, and was illegal/unjustified. Your honor, the Commonwealth HAS. NOT. MET. THAT. BURDEN.
The killing was not premeditated; the only evidence the Commonwealth has produced to support this claim is a single statement by Mr. Hardee, uttered more than two years ago, taken out of context, and which could be said about pretty much anyone. The “very worst person” means nothing more than that. The Commonwealth has not proven any plausible link between “the very worst person” and Harry Kumar; any reasonable person would and should be extremely skeptical of someone who tries to make such an outlandish claim.
The killing was also not committed with malice. The Commonwealth may try to convince you that the longstanding custody battle had left Mr. Hardee a bitter man who wanted Mr. Kumar out of the picture entirely, but again, your honor, there is no evidence to validate that claim. In fact, the only concrete support for either side of this argument comes from Mr. Hardee directly; not once, not twice, but three times, did he calmly ask Mr. Kumar to either not enter his house, or to leave his house. Remember, your honor, that the final instance was with Mr. Hardee pointing a gun at Mr. Kumar. One who intends to kill someone maliciously would never extend such a gracious chance at life. Only after Mr. Kumar lunged aggressively towards Mr. Hardee, with a bat raised over his head and ready to maim or kill, did Mr. Hardee finally shoot at Mr. Kumar, and only did so out of the most primal desire to protect his life and the lives of those around him.
But finally, and most importantly, the killing was absolutely and undeniably justified under the law. Mr. Hardee shot and killed Mr. Kumar purely in self-defense. You heard him earlier indicate that he believed that if nothing was done, the lives of him and his children were in grave danger. In the moments leading up the shooting, Mr. Hardee had the firm and utter belief that he would be killed if he did not take decisive action to address the enraged and violent man approaching him with a deadly weapon. The same kind of weapon that was used the Assault and Battery case where Mr. Kumar was found guilty not long ago.
In order to prove that Mr. Hardee did not act in self-defense, the Commonwealth must prove at least one of the following things: 1) Mr. Hardee did not have reasonable grounds to believe that