Two men are accused of beating a criminal

[Montcalm]

When they arrested them for beating a waste of DNA,i think they`re sending the message,if you beat a crook don`t call the police,let him die and dump the body in the garbage.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I think the message they're really sending is, "Turn to a life of crime! If you can't rob your neighbor blind on your own, your friend the Court System will lend a hand!"

[Howedar]

If someone enters your property and either A) commits a crime, or B) has committed crimes on your property in the past as a matter of practice, you have several options. The main options are to let the criminal succeed, in which case he will probably do it again, call the police (and file a report, because he'll be gone by the time they get there) or respond with force.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I would respond with force. But I wouldn't beat the guy half to death. I'd beat him until he was no longer a threat, then I'd call the cops.

Responding with force is likewise not always safe. The baseball-bat user was lucky the individual he struck didn't have a gun. Conversely, the erstwhile thief was lucky the baseball bat was the weapon used against him rather than a gun.

Then you're in danger of your life, and you beat the fuck out of the guy.

I agree that striking the man while he was down probably constitutes excessive force, but that would depend on what the bat-wielder saw -- the man on the floor may have been reaching for a firearm, or giving the appearance of such an action, in which case the man with the bat perceived that he was only forestalling a potentially fatal escalation of force.

We are in agreeance.