Forest Lake – A serious accident occurred at Stone’s Corners, yesterday morning, when John Reilly was thrown by a frightened horse, under the wagon, and sustained a broken right leg and a broken collarbone.  The young man, age about 25, was returning from the Forest Lake creamery and had stopped at Stone’s store to make some purchases, tieing his horse.  A boy passed with several fish poles, the clatter frightening the horse and the animal broke loose and started to run back the direction he had just come.  Young Reilly sprang to the horse’s head and hung to the bridle, which slipped off, throwing him to the ground.  Dr. E. R. Gardner was hurriedly summoned and the broken bones were reset and everything possible done to relieve his suffering. 

Jackson – Ed Everett, who recently purchased a fine motorcycle, has in a short time become a proficient rider.

South New Milford – The thunderstorm here last week was very severe.  Lightning struck four large elm trees along the driveway at Mr. Keeney’s, but a short distance from the house.  A large ball of St. Elmo’s fire fell in the front yard, but did no damage.  The storm washed Manzer Hill road so badly that it is unsafe to travel over.

East Lynn, Springville Twp. – East Lynn residents anticipate an enjoyable day, July 4, at Lynn.  The ladies of Lynn will serve a chicken dinner and there will be races, a parade, etc., with fireworks in the evening.

Shannon Hill, Auburn Twp. – A sad accident occurred last Monday morning to Ed. Hawke, of Meshoppen.  He drives team for Wm. Brown, who has a lumber job on Joe Welch’s farm.  Hawke let the team stand to help get props ready to load, and they started to run away.  In some way the wagon ran over Hawke and broke his back.  He was taken to the hospital at Sayre and there is little hope of his living. ALSO At Jersey Hill there will be a ball game between the fat and lean men that will be something you will not soon forget on July 4th.  A dinner you can’t forget and band music that you won’t want to forget.  All this, and more, at Jersey Hill in Parker’s Park.

Little Meadows – Born to Merchant and Mrs. J. J. Bergin (nee Miss Mollie Griffin), June 30, 1914, a son.  Many friends extend congratulations.

Tripp Lake, Liberty Twp. – “Camp Susquehannock” opened on Wednesday with nearly eighty young men in attendance and more to arrive.  This is the largest number enrolled since

G. Carleton Shafer started it some seven or eight years ago on his beautiful property at Tripp Lake.

Susquehanna – The Susquehanna Light & Power Co. is engaged in stringing new light wires about town, erecting them on tall poles that will clear them from the shade trees, thus preventing damage.  The company is using excellent precautions to prevent injury to trees and the new wires will insure better service. It is expected the day service will be ready by the middle of this month.

Flynn – Quite a number of the leading politicians of Flynn met the Pinchot party at Birchardville on Saturday last.  ALSO The roads on the hill are in a very poor condition, owing to the stones not being picked off this spring.

Dimock – Frank Benninger is having the inside of his house, which he recently purchased, papered and painted, and expects to move there this week.

Rushville – John Marbaker is gaining slowly since being shot by his cousin two weeks ago.

Harford – During the severe electrical storm of Wednesday evening, June 17, the house of Mr. and Mrs. Leberate LaBarre was struck by a heavy bolt of lightning, which entered through the glass in the front door, then continuing up, breaking nearly every window in the house, pictures being thrown from the wall and much damage done.  The lamp, which was burning and on the table, by which Mr. and Mrs. LaBarre were sitting, was knocked from the table, being extinguished.  The strange part of the incident was that Mr. and Mrs. LaBarre were scarcely affected by the shock of the lightning and it was a narrow escape for them.  The lightning left the house by the means of the telephone wire which probably saved the house from burning. ALSO  Philander Harding, our 92 year old farmer, has nearly an acre of the best corn seen anywhere.  He planted it all with a hoe and he and his wife fertilized every hill by hand.  Now who can tell a true story to beat that?

Clifford – A foreigner, carrying a pack, entered the house of Miss Stephens, an old lady living in the western part of the town, and commenced disrobing.  A neighbor, entering just then, spoiled his intentions, whatever they were, but Constable Leander Lee got on his trail and brought him before Esq. Finn, who gave him a good, stiff fine and let him go.  ALSO It has been thought best to try the experiment of having two pastors on this charge of the M. E. church.  There are five appointments, viz, Clifford, Dundaff, Tompkinsville, Hickory Ridge and Lenoxville, and it is pretty strenuous work for one man to fill them properly.  A young man by the name of Jenkins, who is just entering the ministry, commenced last Sunday, preaching at Dundaff, Tompkinsville and Hickory Ridge.

Upsonville, Franklin Twp. – Leo Clark, seaman on the battleship North Dakota, U. S. N., is visiting his mother Mrs. Wm. Smith, for a few days.  Mr. Clark has served seven years in the navy and has returned for four years more.  He returns July 4th to be ready to sail for Mexican waters at once.

Montrose – A special train will leave here July 4th for Heart Lake, at 6:30 p.m., and will leave the lake for Montrose at midnight.  A big program of events has been arranged for the “Fourth” at Heart Lake, by Mack & Jenkins, including a beautiful boat carnival at 9 p.m.

Lanesboro – The people here have started an advertising game to attract canoers to the Susquehanna River in that section.  Local residents declare the big city folks are neglecting one of the most desirable points in the state when they fail to come there.

Brooklyn – W. R. Gere met with a serious accident last week when he was kicked by a horse and two ribs broken.  Dr. Williams attends the case and Mr. Gere is doing as well as can be expected.  He was able to be moved to his home on Friday.  His son, Berwyn Gere, of Skinners Eddy, has visited him.

News Brief from Marietta, Wis. – That he successfully frightened crows, who fled in shame from a figure portraying modern femininity in its slit skirt and peekaboo attire, is the claim of Howard Smithson, who found the old-fashioned masculine style scarecrow no longer useful in his cornfield.  He was led, after a trip to the city, to garb a scarecrow in a slit, diaphanous, lacy skirt, low cut neck.  The crows fled. (A West Auburn farmer has tried it this year and there is not a hill of corn missing in his cornfield.)

The law of justification (self-defense) has deep historical roots – and those roots were already embedded long before existence of the United States of America.  The common law roots of self-defense doctrine are important to know if you want to have a complete understanding of the law of justification.  Too often, people throw around theories relating to self-defense that have no basis in statutory law – or even the long history of self-defense common law.  If you understand the historical context of the common law relating to self-defense, then the later statutory justification defenses can generally be seen as simply codification of societal standards established over many centuries of jurisprudence.

In some respects, the law of self-defense has a fundamental aspect to it – a person may use lethal force in order to save his or her life (or the life of another person).  In other respects, the law of self-defense has different wrinkles that can call into question whether a particular use of force was justified under the law.  The law wants to know who the initial aggressor in the confrontation was – you cannot start the fight and then claim to be justified in killing your victim when they respond to protect themselves.   The law looks to whether a duty to retreat existed – and whether the duty to retreat was violated – and the duty of retreat recognizes the societal desire to assure that lethal force is used only as the last resort where no other options for safety exist. 

The law considers the reasonableness of the belief in the need to use lethal force, i.e., it is not a subjective standard which allows each person to simply say that he or she personally thought that it was necessary to kill another human being.  Rather, the law requires that the belief be a reasonable one, i.e., that a reasonable person under similar circumstances would have believed that his or her life was in danger and that lethal force was a necessity.

In 2011, the Legislature expanded the justification defense under Pennsylvania law.  Some people have referred to the new legislation as “The Castle Doctrine,” but this is not accurate.  The common law Castle Doctrine was always recognized under Pennsylvania law – both our common law and our statutory adoption of the common law.  The new legislation should more properly be referred to as an expansion of the Castle Doctrine – and that expansion creates a new category of justification defenses – as well as new statutory provisions that eliminate the ability to claim the benefit of the expanded self-defense law.

State Representative Sanda Major has scheduled a seminar to educate the public on the law of self-defense – and more importantly the expansion of those laws that occurred in 2011.  I will be speaking at the event regarding the history of self-defense, the statutory justification defense, and the expansion of our self-defense statute by the Legislature in 2011.  The seminar will provide you with the opportunity to review your understanding of the self-defense statute – as well as ask any questions that you may have about the application of the justification defense.

In addition to the self-defense issue, Lance Benedict, the Susquehanna County Sheriff, will also be presenting information on the concealed carry law – which also presents another area of the law that can create legal snares for those who are not informed as to the different requirements and limitations that attend to concealed weapons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The seminar will be conducted on Thursday, July 31, 2014, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Hallstead Great Bend Rod and Gun Club, 3340 Dubois Street, Hallstead, Pennsylvania.  If you plan on attending, you are required to register, which you can do online at www.RepMajor.com, or by calling Representative Major’s Montrose office at 570-278-3374.  This forum provides a terrific opportunity to get some clarity on the law as it relates to concealed weapons and self-defense.  If you have any interest in either of these topics, I hope to see you there.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.