No Charges in Boulder "Make My Day" Shooting

By Jeralyn, Section Colorado News
Posted on Fri May 25, 2012 at 07:19:58 PM EST
Tags: "make my day" law (all tags)

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The District Attorney of Boulder, CO says no charges will be filed against a couple who shot a 21 year old student who walked into their home and their bedroom at 3:30 a.m. a few days ago. The lights were out and the couple had been asleep when they heard an intruder. Colorado's Make My Day law justifies shooting an intruder in the home if the homeowner "reasonably believe[s] a trespassing person intends to use any measure of physical force on any occupant of the home."

Zoey Ripple, who graduated from the University of Colorado two weeks ago, was intoxicated and ignored the couple's warning to leave, even though they said they had a gun. She was shot in the hip and is recuperating in the hospital. [More...]

The DA today said Ms. Ripple will be charged with felony criminal trespass. The couple, who are both psychiatrists, were consulted on the charging decision.

When someone illegally enters your home, ignores your demand to leave and continues their approach, I think any reasonable person would believe they intended physical harm -- especially when it's dark and they can't see the intruder.

Ms. Ripple will likely end up with a plea that avoids a felony conviction and ensures she gets treatment. She's lucky she wasn't killed.

That being said, the couple, Timothy Justice and Doreen Orion, should start locking their screen door when they go to bed. It may be the People's Republic of Boulder, but this isn't the sixties and it's felony stupid to believe because you live in a progressive college town, no one would break into your house.

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No Charges in Boulder "Make My Day" Shooting | 89 comments (89 topical)

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You would certainly think... (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri May 25, 2012 at 08:55:11 PM EST

that two very well educated people would have the common sense to lock their door. Especially when you live in a 2.75 million dollar house and have been the victim of a stalker.

I'm glad Stan seems to be leaning toward treatment as opposed to jail time for Ms. Ripple.

not my bag (5.00 / 3) (#5)
by jharp on Fri May 25, 2012 at 09:08:17 PM EST

I think this story is a good lesson that a dog is far superior home protection.

I want no part of shooting a human being. Even seasoned professionals who kill people trying to kill them are badly traumatized. And that is just not for me.

I'll still take my dog over any gun (5.00 / 4) (#7)
by Militarytracy on Fri May 25, 2012 at 10:06:12 PM EST

I don't know how drunk you would have to be to be able to ignore my dog barking in your face :) She may have had a bite if she was really that comatosely insistent and continuing to come in, but on my karma scale a bite beats a gunshot.

I'm with you (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by jharp on Fri May 25, 2012 at 10:37:24 PM EST

I am with you buddy. And the hound will also wake you to up to let you know something is amiss.

I don't know of any gun that can match that.

And the hound is very unlikely to accidentally kill a family member, unlike a gun.


At 5mos old, my Dal showed me her (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by nycstray on Sat May 26, 2012 at 01:42:40 AM EST

big girl bark. I'm very happy with it :D It means someone is on the property/approaching the house vs her other random barking. At 10mos, she still sleeps like the dead, so not 100% sure she would alert me at night, but I'll still take my chances with her. It's no secret I have a loud dog here, lol!~ (we're still working on that excess barking thing!) My neighbors swear they don't hear here when they're indoors and they like the fact she barks at approaching people because our houses are so close.

My last Dal did alert me one night when my door popped open (lock must not have latched in?) I woke up to this very primal growling. I found her sitting a foot or so from the opening of the door. Nobody was crossing her path!


: The dog may be asleep... (none / 0) (#88)
by unitron on Thu May 31, 2012 at 04:30:43 AM EST

...but that doesn't mean that her nose is.

We have two dachshunds - talk about an (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by Angel on Sat May 26, 2012 at 08:28:41 AM EST

alarm system!


Unfortunate (5.00 / 5) (#18)
by Lora on Sat May 26, 2012 at 09:53:47 AM EST

I can't really argue their choice, but I wonder if there was another less violent way out of the situation.

As in: how about turning on a light? Cell phones will shed a good deal of light; was one by the bed?

If it was too dark to see the intruder, how come they were able to shoot so accurately?

If there was no response to their warning, there was also presumably no active attempt at harming the couple. Couldn't they have held off for just a moment to assess the situation?

I was once awakened from a sound sleep by someone crashing through my apartment. I called out, "Who's there?" I heard, "Shhh, shhh." More crashes. I was afraid. I was in my bedroom and the crashes were right outside. I called out again, "Who is it? What's going on?" I heard, "It's just me. It's all right." I then realized that the blind girl who lived next door must have gotten into the wrong apartment. I called out to tell her, and she fled, mortified. Her date had returned her to the wrong door.

I'm glad I tried to sort things out.

Turning on a light (none / 0) (#32)
by jbindc on Sat May 26, 2012 at 04:46:44 PM EST

A first reaction probably, but then again, if someone is there to do you harm, doesn't that just give the intruder more reason to do jarem - so you can't identify them?


: It just seems (5.00 / 1) (#35)
by Lora on Sat May 26, 2012 at 07:49:47 PM EST

there wasn't a clear intention of anything. I don't blame them for shooting; I might have done the same if I had a gun by my bed. I just think that there wasn't any obvious threat other than there is a strange person in the bedroom. Disconcerting, possibly dangerous, but if the intruder had meant to do harm, don't you think there would have been some definite action on the intruder's part? I just wish there could have been more of a pause before the shot -- IOW, this strange person doesn't appear to want anything or be doing anything; maybe this is all a big mistake.
But to answer your question, yeah, you might be right: if a crime was being committed, the less you saw, the greater your chances of survival? But it was just an odd occurence that ended sadly and perhaps it was unnecessary.

shoot so accurately? (none / 0) (#89)
by unitron on Thu May 31, 2012 at 04:43:19 AM EST

It was only accurate if the shooter intended to hit them in the hip.

The young lady is most fortunate to be alive.

In a situation like that, turning on a light that lets the intruder more clearly see you isn't necessarily a good idea if you don't know who the intruder is or what their intentions are.

No response might mean someone who means you harm is remaining silent to deny you information, like where to aim.

In the case of the blind girl, as soon as you realized it was her you should have told her to stand absolutely still until you could come out there, turn on the lights, and make sure there was nothing for her to injure herself on when trying to leave.


Reaching for the gun is so easy (5.00 / 4) (#19)
by ruffian on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:10:23 AM EST

Why would 2 adults even try to control a drunk 21 year old woman without it?

I always ask myself what would have happened if there was no gun available. Somehow in this case I believe they would have gotten her safely out of their house, or at least subdued until the police came.

But really, why bother trying?

A different name (5.00 / 2) (#20)
by Lora on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:18:19 AM EST

A law named "Make my day" does not encourage a reasoned, non-violent approach. How about, "Protection from Bodily Harm?" Not catchy, but in the interest of saving lives and avoiding debilitating and possibly deadly mistakes, we don't need a Dirty Harry catchphrase to justify the shooting of guns at people.

When people ask me (5.00 / 3) (#25)
by scribe on Sat May 26, 2012 at 02:19:52 PM EST

"What kind of gun should I get for home protection?" my standard answer is "a loud dog". This, for several reasons:

the dog knows who belongs and who doesn't. Sleepy you can and will get confused.
the dog never really sleeps while you're sleeping. Rather, it's more of the sleeping with one eye open variety.
the dog is more aware of what's going on than you will ever be.*
You don't want the karma of shooting someone, let alone the possibility of a conviction for it, on your head.
You're too civilized to shoot someone and will likely hesitate in the hope of not having to shoot even when the situation demands you do. It's those moments which wind up with the criminal intruder getting the better of you and maybe getting the gun from you and turning it on you. He's already dropped any pretense of civilization whenhe decided to break in - "in for a penny, in for a pound" is where he is.
If you're anywhere near average (and, on the bell curve that makes up our society, you are), you will not devote enough time, effort and money to actually going out and practicing with the gun to make it useful. On top of which if you really need it, you're likely to be sleepy and confused and in the dark. You'll fumble loading it, or condfuse the safety and the slide release or magazine release or pull a trigger on an empty hamber or any number of other errors related to the combined effects of sleep, confusion, and being unfamiliar with the gun.
Even if you do put in the time, effort and money, you're likely to keep the gun stowed away where the kids can't get it (or the repairman can't see it) such that you'd wind up having to either dig it out of the bottom of a closet or run through the intruder to get it from the other end of the house. It's useless to you there.

All that said, if you still want to get a gun for home protection, IMHO the best combination of safety, utility and effectiveness is a 20 gauge pump action shotgun with a short "deer" barrel. A Mossberg 500 or a Remington 870 are probably the best. They are relatively safe, handle well, don't jam, will require your deliberate action to reload and work. And everyone recognizes the sound of cycling a pumpgun to load it. Most importantly, they are popular so there is a secondary market and you won't get too badly hurt when you decide to get rid of it and go to sell it.

* my dog, a setter, has a particular thing - animus - for cats. She points them, chases them and might eat them if I let her free to get them. She can be in the rear of the apartment, far from the front windows, and all the windows and doors closed tight (for winter), and suddenly come running into the front room to look out the window and bark at the cat on the other side of the street. How she knew a cat was across the street (sneaking onto someone's porch) through sealed-shut windows and from the far side of the apartment with no sightlines is something which will beforever beyond me. But she knows. She's far more aware of the situation than I ever will be.

I'm beginning to feel like I am a real risk taker (5.00 / 3) (#37)
by ruffian on Sat May 26, 2012 at 09:10:15 PM EST

Here I am, sleeping every night without a gun handy. Apparently more people than I would have thought possible think I am risking my life and limb. But I like my odds.


Josh's Standard Poodle is surprisingly (5.00 / 1) (#50)
by Militarytracy on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:14:47 PM EST

a big home protector, not in that I think she has serious bite pressure but wow what a bark and presence. It is worse than our German Shepherds. The German Shepherds have that confident low throaty bark, and hers is large, loud, and sounds like she is just about to freak out on you. Whenever Josh's nieces are here she is always with them too, she sleeps closest to the smallest most vulnerable person in the house at night.

Not comparable bite pressure though, she was trying to play with a very large stick that the shepherds carry around in the front yard this afternoon. She was having hell managing it gracefully but she still got it done and she was so proud.


Oreo (5.00 / 1) (#65)
by Lora on Sun May 27, 2012 at 12:04:58 PM EST

I have a neutered male cat who has cornered several of my daughter's male friends over the years. We're talking 20-25 pounds of serious yowling and hissing. The boys wouldn't budge until I rescued them. A burglar would be different, I suppose, unless Oreo thought he had a romantic interest in my daughter ;-)


: I had a cat (none / 0) (#76)
by sj on Mon May 28, 2012 at 12:27:01 AM EST

that cornered my landlady in the bathroom when she came to do a repair. I was told that she was standing up on two legs, yowling and hissing. I don't recall now how LL got away. Her mother was part Maine Coon and she was big girl herself. She was the only one of her litter to live. Mama had ten kittens, all undernourished prenatally, right after I adopted her, and Omega almost didn't make it either. If it weren't for her bada$$ attitude she probably wouldn't have. Boy that was a rough week. I was working full time, taking midterms and my kittens were dying so I was trekking back and forth to the vet.
She was raised in an apartment, but shortly after the landlady incident went to live in my folks' "farm". She took to that life in a way that she never took to apartment living. She was a beautiful gray. She would fetch a ball of wadded up aluminum foil for a surprisingly long time.
Omega was a Queen among queen cats.

Our first standard poodle, (5.00 / 1) (#70)
by Zorba on Sun May 27, 2012 at 03:16:32 PM EST

who was a really large (75 pounds, but not at all fat) spayed female, was so protective, I always felt perfectly safe up here with her. One time, our windows were open (they're screened) and some hikers came by, as they often do up this way. I hadn't heard them until they were quite nearby and the sudden proximity of their voices startled me and I gasped. I literally thought that our poodle was going to go right through the screen after them. Obviously, she had picked up on my concern. She may not have had the bite pressure of German Shepherds or other breeds, but I always felt that she would have given her all and "gone down fighting," if it came to that, to protect us.
Plus, she was really smart and well-trained. I could take her out, unleashed, and even if hikers, bicyclists, or people walking their dogs went by and she started to bark, all I had to say was "Quiet! Sit!" And she would do so.


Interesting about the bite pressure (none / 0) (#52)
by nycstray on Sun May 27, 2012 at 12:15:21 AM EST

both of my Dals have/had some serious jaw action. Roxy! bruised the crap outta me when I first got her @ 5mos 28lbs. My legs and arms were a mess :P Thankfully, she now controls her mouth and does a real nice "gentle".


Delilah's bite would still make you sorry (5.00 / 1) (#53)
by Militarytracy on Sun May 27, 2012 at 12:24:17 AM EST

But our Shepherd Auburn though and Major too, I don't know what it is and perhaps some of it is just sheer bone and muscle muzzle density, but her mouth is like a blunt force object. I've accidentally hit my hand against her open mouth before and hit a few teeth in the process and My God it hurt. She barely seemed to notice I was without grace for a moment and falling into her, but her mouth has its own force field or something.


Our neighbors across the road have a poodle and (5.00 / 2) (#56)
by Angel on Sun May 27, 2012 at 08:33:01 AM EST

that dog has an incredibly loud bark. So loud that it scares my dachshunds back inside the house when they hear it! Yes, my weiners might be weenies!!


Count me as surprised by that poodle bark (5.00 / 1) (#64)
by Militarytracy on Sun May 27, 2012 at 11:59:13 AM EST

She chases squirrels too but not seriously, only for fun. There are some birds usually on the ground between our house and the neighbors house. I'm not sure what they are, they look a little bit like small quail when they take off. But I can now see the poodle's hunting history showing because the first thing she does when she hits the front yard is go flush all of them out. Then she turns to make sure we saw and she looks very proud of herself.


We always tried to (5.00 / 1) (#71)
by Zorba on Sun May 27, 2012 at 03:22:06 PM EST

discourage squirrels from getting to our chestnuts and black walnuts before we could harvest them, and discourage deer from eating our fruit (peaches and apples in particular) before they were quite ripe enough for us to pick. All I had to do, with the standard poodles we have owned up here, was say "Get the squirrel!" or "Get the deer!" and open the back door- they took off and chased the intruders away!


They are much different dogs than I expected (5.00 / 2) (#72)
by Militarytracy on Sun May 27, 2012 at 03:49:48 PM EST

I'm still pretty enchanted, very smart, very family, very athletic. She may have been having a hard time balancing that half log in her mouth, but she was jumping four feet off the ground with it and running like a greyhound.


: I agree (5.00 / 2) (#73)
by Zorba on Sun May 27, 2012 at 04:01:21 PM EST

They are, indeed, "very smart, very family, very athletic." They really, really are very smart dogs (despite their "frou-frou" reputations with some people), and they have always done well in Obedience Trials. Sometimes they are almost too smart for their own good. ;-)
We cannot own any other dogs- Mr. Zorba is allergic to most dogs, but not to Poodles. That's what he grew up with (Standards), and that's what we have always owned. It's possible that he might be fine with Portuguese Water Dogs or Irish Water Spaniels (both related to Poodles), but we're not sure, and we've never tested that.

It might/must be anatomy (none / 0) (#54)
by nycstray on Sun May 27, 2012 at 01:18:39 AM EST

Dals have a more square bulky jaw than a Standard, and I'm thinking the GSD, while not bulky in jaw compared to some dogs, is still wider at the back of the jaw/head.

Dogs of a smaller size still hurt like Heck when they bite, so I imagine Delilah would have decent bite. I had a sturdy chi mix bite my foot through a soft shoe at the shelter once, d@mn! that hurt!!! It was just interesting seeing you type about bite pressure when I would give a dog of her size a decent bite rating without her even touching me :) And knowing a Dal's bite pressure . . . we won't discuss that a young, excited Dal could prob knock you out with her head . . . or knock your teeth out, lol!~


They say Dobermans (none / 0) (#66)
by fishcamp on Sun May 27, 2012 at 12:16:16 PM EST

have over 200 lbs. of biting pressure in their jaws. That's unsourced but my grandmother told me that when I was a kid so it must be true. I know it takes a giant fish to break 200 lb. fishing line.


: I'm with your grandmother on this one. (5.00 / 1) (#74)
by NYShooter on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:45:17 PM EST

My history (50+yrs) with dogs has been primarily large ones: Setters, Collies, Sheppards, Danes, and the last few years, Dobies. I loved them all madly, truly I did. But, I have to tell you, my Dobies are in a class by themselves. I don't quite know how to explain it. While all those other breeds are different in some ways, they're more similar than different. The exception are the Dobermans. There's so much unique with them that I can't go into that here and now. But, if anyone out there has experience with dobies, I'd love a conversation. My current one is, "Storm," and my wife has her sister, "Sasha."
But the question was grandma's comment about "jaw strength." I've told you about the different breeds I've had; only one could chew a Pipe wrench into dust.....my 90 lb. "Storm."

Weren't poodles (none / 0) (#75)
by sj on Mon May 28, 2012 at 12:14:54 AM EST

bred to be bird dogs? My son's Chocolate Lab had the softest mouth I've ever encountered. I thought that had to do with game retrieval and not damaging the game.

She would run you down to get the ball, though. A born athlete, she was.


Dot.tee, my previous Dal was like your (5.00 / 1) (#51)
by nycstray on Sun May 27, 2012 at 12:08:40 AM EST

Setter in being able to sense a cat across the street. I my case, it was 4 floors up and she could be lounging on the couch and know that d@mn feral cat was cruising into the school yard. Took me forever to figure out what she was always alerting to out the window. At first I thought it was people or people walking a dog etc. Nope, it was this slinky kitty.


If I was concerned enough for (5.00 / 2) (#38)
by Anne on Sat May 26, 2012 at 09:10:18 PM EST

my safety to keep a gun handy by the bed, I think I'd probably also lock my doors; the last thing I think I'd really want to do is shoot at someone in a rush of adrenaline in the dark.

With locked doors, this young woman would not have stumbled into the wrong house.

There you go thinking again Annne (5.00 / 2) (#39)
by ruffian on Sat May 26, 2012 at 09:16:21 PM EST

Just going to get you into trouble.

I wonder if having the gun gives them a sense that they don't need to take normal precautions? I was gong to call it a false sense of security, but it is plainly not false if you are legally allowed to shoot anyone that enters your door by mistake,


Hmmmm (none / 0) (#55)
by jbindc on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:51:04 AM EST

Have you ever forgotten to lock your doors?


Hmmmmm...why do you (4.00 / 3) (#60)
by Anne on Sun May 27, 2012 at 09:36:25 AM EST

do that? Why must you take that tone, like you think you're about to "get" someone? If I had been speaking specifically about the incident in question, I would apologize for not wondering that maybe that was the one night these people forgot to lock up. But I wasn't speaking specifically, I was speaking in a much broader sense - was that really not obvious?

The truth is that up until just over a year ago, we never locked our doors, or our cars - we live in the country, and our property - about 5 acres - is fully fenced.

But a year ago in March, we had a little crime spree in the area; people like us, who also never locked anything up because we felt we were safe, had our cars broken into. My purse was taken off the front seat of my car, which was in the (open) garage, and another neighbor experienced the same thing.

My purse - and checkbooks, and other assorted contents, minus my phone - were found a couple miles away by a Verizon worker who spotted it on the side of the road. My wallet - minus the cash and my license and Visa card - was found in the other direction, all over the lawn of a woman who also discovered that her car had been broken into.

So, no, I no longer "forget" to lock our doors, or our cars, because I learned my lesson - we all did.

I'm sure you will feel some sense of triumph in all of this; I hope it's as enjoyable as you had hoped it would be.


Wow are you on the warpath (2.00 / 1) (#69)
by jbindc on Sun May 27, 2012 at 02:18:17 PM EST

And ready to jump at anything I say - even when your assumptions are wrong again.

No ,I feel no sense of "triumph" - whatever that's supposed to mean. You seemed very judgmental about this couple, while having little judgnent about a very drunk girl who made mistake by going in rhe wrong house and then compounded it by not responding when spoken to.

Of course, had she not had much alcohol to blow a .2, then this crisis also could have been avoided.


I think those who jump should not (5.00 / 2) (#84)
by Anne on Mon May 28, 2012 at 08:44:21 AM EST

be shocked or offended if the person they jumped on responds accordingly; perhaps you should think about looking before you leap?

You know what I really hate about guns? The ongoing and sometimes extraordinary effort that goes into finding ways to justify shooting people, while at the same time finding ways to eliminate any responsibility on the part of the shooters to avoid doing so.

And I hate the fact that no gun has ever made anyone smarter.

If you want to talk about judgment, then why not address the quality of the judgment of people who sleep next to a gun that they are obviously willing and able to shoot someone with, but who don't lock their home against intruders of any kind - drubk college girls or otherwise. Since when is it smart to substitute a gun for a locked door? And the legal response of "the law doesn't require them to have locked their doors or taken any other, less potentially lethal, efforts" is not, in my opinion, a safe harbor if what you're really interested in is discussing judgment.

Of course the college girl is also responsible for her own behavior and actions - I never said she wasn't, but I guess in your mind, if I wasn't reveling in her "getting what she deserved" - the primary and driving concept behind so much of your commentary on legal matters - then I must have been condoning her irresponsible behavior.


Said very drunk girl would not (none / 0) (#79)
by sj on Mon May 28, 2012 at 12:42:12 AM EST

have been in the house had the door been locked. Might have thrown up on their lawn, though.

But of the two behaviors, shooting an intruder and trespassing, which one had the longer term consequence?

And apparently it is trespassing in Colorado, not burglary.


Trespassing (none / 0) (#80)
by Cylinder on Mon May 28, 2012 at 03:03:04 AM EST

Trespassing. It caused her to be shot.

A person cannot be reasonably share any responsibility - moral or legal - for not having their home wildly drunk coed-proffed at all times. The mere fact that their door is unlock should in no way impact their expectation to be free from intrusion or the reasonable presumption of an intruder in your bedroom at 3AM presents a threat.

If she napped on the interstate, would the driver share responsibility for not driving in the slow lane?


Let me get this straight (5.00 / 1) (#81)
by NYShooter on Mon May 28, 2012 at 04:38:42 AM EST

If your mother or father, son or daughter, for whatever reason: reaction to medication, heat stroke, food poisoning, become disoriented and inadvertently wander into someone's house or apartment; lighting is good and they make no threatening moves; and, furthermore, when questioned by the homeowner they are unresponsive, then shooting them between the eyes is o.k. by you.

Please don't say my example is farfetched because it's just exactly those misconceptions that lead to unnecessary deaths.


Third party not subject to sentiment (5.00 / 1) (#82)
by Cylinder on Mon May 28, 2012 at 05:03:37 AM EST

If your mother or father, son or daughter...

A third party is not subject - or responsible for - to my sentiment.

That is, the mere fact that I love my daughter above all other things does not exact some special burden on a person's prespumtion to the right of sanctuary within there home. By the same token, a father of a common crackhead who has resorted to home invasions to support their denpendance wound not neccessarily love their daughter any less than I do my own.

How I feel about this nightmare scenario has nothing whatsoever to do with the moral or legal responsibility on the part of the actor.


: I didn't write it that way (5.00 / 1) (#83)
by NYShooter on Mon May 28, 2012 at 06:30:35 AM EST

to be a "trick" question. I wrote it that way to emphasize that laws are ostensibly written by our representatives for our benefit. The law we're talking about wasn't mandated by Martians and imposed upon us. Go to the genesis of almost any law and you'll find lobbyists bribing politicians for the enrichment of special interests. You and I weren't there as the envelopes were being passed around.
The point is, we can make our homes safer and put in safeguards so that unintended consequences don't ha