Cops release from jail 77-year-old Oakland homeowner they say fatally shot break-in suspect

Police released from jail a 77-year-old Oakland homeowner they said fatally shot a break-in suspect last week.

The homeowner had been held without bail since early Tuesday on suspicion of murder; he was released from jail Thursday evening without facing any charges, the Mercury News reported, citing Alameda County jail records.

'You have a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate yourself. And the fact that you exercise that right doesn’t seem like a reasonable basis to arrest somebody.'

Police said the homeowner killed one of three people who were trying to break into his home while wielding a crowbar and a replica gun, the paper said.

Jail records said the homeowner was scheduled for a Thursday morning arraignment, but Mercury News reported that the hearing never happened. An Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesperson told the paper the homeowner was released due to a lack of charges in the case.

County prosecutors had a deadline to file charges, Mercury News said, adding that the sheriff's office generally doesn't hold suspects for longer than two days when they haven't been formally charged.

However, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said in a Friday morning statement that “the case is still under investigation by the Oakland Police Department," the paper said.

At a Wednesday press conference, acting deputy chief Frederick Shavies said the homeowner “did not provide a statement” when homicide investigators questioned him, after which he was arrested, Mercury News said.

“Absent any sort of statement, if ‘A’ shoots ‘B’ without an explanation, we can only go with what we have,” Shavies said, according to the paper. “All we know is an individual lost his life.”

Legal experts told Mercury News that the homeowner’s arrest and the police department's reason for jailing him are concerning.

“I find it very troubling that the police would arrest someone because they didn’t make a statement,” Mathew Martinez, an East Bay defense attorney who spent 13 years as a prosecutor in Merced County, told the paper. “You have a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate yourself. And the fact that you exercise that right doesn’t seem like a reasonable basis to arrest somebody.”

Daniel Horowitz, a Lafayette-based defense attorney, told Mercury News that it's "really incredible to arrest someone, just simply because there’s someone dead in your yard. If there’s just somebody on your property, and you have a gun and you shoot them, that’s not sufficient to arrest them. It just isn’t.”

Oakland police provide details on homeowner shooting possible burglar Mondayyoutu.be

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