A California man who spent 24 years in the Air Force is a free man today after a jury in San Bernardino County acquitted him of murder and manslaughter charges.
52-year-old Patrick Dull maintained all along that he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot 25-year-old Ryan Dazzi early one morning last February, and it appears that the jury concurred after deliberating the facts in the case.
Dull and Dazzi were acquainted with one another through family friendships, according to defense attorney James McGee, who represented Dull.
On the night of the shooting, Dazzi showed up at Dull’s home twice, he said. On the first visit, at 1 a.m., Dazzi threw a rock through the window of the house. Dull was not home at the time, although family members were. It was not clear why Dazzi was angry with him.
Dazzi returned to the home about 2:15 a.m., after Dull had returned home and was boarding up the broken window, according to the defense.
Dazzi approached Dull from behind, made threatening statements and then charged toward Dull on the front porch of Dull’s home, the attorney said. Dull fired a single shot, striking Dazzi, then reported the shooting to police.
Dazzi was found to be unarmed, but Dull had no way of knowing that at the time. All he knew is that an acquaintance was threatening him, and had already caused damage to his home. Once Dazzi ran towards Dull, I think it was reasonable to think that Dazzi intended to harm him, and perhaps his family members too.
According to the Daily Press, Dull’s trial lasted more than two months, though it looks like the news of his acquittal was the only press coverage that it received. I wish the paper’s report had detailed what evidence the prosecution presented to support charging the veteran with murder, because based on the sequence of events that was described I’m confused about why Dull was ever charged to begin with.
As his attorney noted, Dull was on his own property when he was attacked, and though California’s Castle Doctrine only applies once someone has entered a domicile (not merely stepping onto someone’s property), the state’s common law also recognizes that there is no duty to retreat when someone is threatened, so long as they have a legal right to be there.
Dull most certainly had the legal right to be on his own property, so I’m wondering what led to police arresting him and prosecutors accusing him of murder.
Dull’s defense attorney did tell the Daily Press that he was “thankful that the jury took into consideration [his] client’s PTSD from his military service, the effect it had, in him defending his home,” so there’s likely more to the story than what the paper presented.
Regardless, a jury of Dull’s peers sat through a two-month trial and then unanimously concluded that he was acting within his rights when he shot Dazzi. They have access to far more information than I do, and I’m going to assume that they made the right call when they acquitted him of all charges.
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