Local musician admits excessive self-defence
Dexter Bodden
(CNS): Well-known local singer-songwriter Dexter Bodden pleaded guilty Tuesday, the morning of his trial, to wounding in a case of excessive self-defence, after discussions with prosecutors led them to agree on the facts and drop the more serious charge of wounding with intent. Bodden was accused of seriously wounding a man after he found him trespassing on his property and trying to steal his truck in the early hours of the morning more than three years ago. The case against him had dragged on for a variety of reasons, not least because it took the crown almost two years to charge him.
Bodden was only charged after he, himself, was shot by an unknown assailant and had then complained to the police commissioner about the failure of the police to solve the case, even though he had given evidence about who he believed had shot him.
He pleaded guilty on the basis that he had gone too far when, angry and afraid, he had picked up a machete and chopped at the trespasser, believing his own life to be in danger and his livelihood at risk, as his equipment was in the vehicle the man appeared to be trying to steal.
Bodden accepted that the wounds he inflicted with the machete were serious and that, although he was provoked, his response was excessive. The victim sustained several chop injuries to his head and body as well as a fractured ankle.
Following Bodden’s admissions, the case was adjourned and he was bailed to return for a sentencing hearing in August.
Category: Courts, Crime, Local News
I have grave issues when a person defends his or her property that they have worked hard for and to surrender to criminals who fail to have the proper respect for other peoples properties. This man should have never pled or found guilty. How can the prosecution or anyone else quantify the level of fear someone exhibits? Have they ever been in such situation? not from a position of conjectures and anecdotes. Cayman Islands is a bible country, the bible says the thief comes in the night to kill and destroy, which i deduce as my right to preemptive strike. The bible also says that if your right hand offends you, cut it off. I could go on and on… To what extent must I protect my property and family? Do the necessary research, adrenaline increases when one is under fear of imminent threat of danger danger. It has been proven that a person with a gun who is under immediate threat of harm or danger, presses the trigger of a gun longer and to the point of firing most if not all of he rounds. The survey was conducted with both trained and untrained personnel, i.e, a licensed firearm permit holder and police. They all recounted firing less rounds than they actually fired and could not recollect firing so many. Why should this man have been mindful of how many chops this scumbag got? There are too many reckless prosecutions in this country. A man need not take flight when faced with danger, but may defend himself. This plea should be immediately vacated as it will send the wrong message that these marauding thieves can go into anyone’s property without facing the just treatment. If they come to my home, believe me, I will exact the right degree of punishment as they will never be able to contest it. Nuff said, as duppy know who to frighten. Think on these things people, the MLA’s should be looking into this particularly for persons who have license firearms. You give the perp one shot and he dies, will the ODPP charge you or murder? If the answer is no, then herein lies the recklessness of the prosecution. If the answer is yes, then you see that you have no right to protect your property as your’e restrained by ones interpretation on exacting force quantity.
Every week you see videos asking people to identify burglars. Are we serious? Why then this man caused the burglar to be known because he chopped the hell out of him which makes good proper identification. Prosecutor: Sir, do you see the man who trespassed on your property in the courtroom? Victim: Yes maam/sir. How do you know it is him? Because of the 10 chops I inflicted to his forehead with my machete and and the blood collected by the police at the scene. Man walks free of robberies because the victim was not able to id him. We need to wake up people.
All depends on who child you fah.
Excessive force? while getting shot at.
Sir. Next time use those tools and do some gardening. You will have a stink garden, but less chance of going to jail for protecting your property.
Or can always get a dog. let the criminals shoot the dog instead. They will surely be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The solution clearly is: We need to pass more laws making stealing and breaking into people’s houses really, really really really more illegal. This has certainly been proven to work keeping guns out of the hands of habitual criminals…
He should not have plead guilty. It sounds like he had some genius lawyer to advise him. What he should have done is insist on a trial and escalate to Grand Court to be tried by a jury of his peers. No jury would convict him for defending his property AND HIS LIFE! The so-called justice system in this country is treading on shaky ground if it targets law-abiding citizens from defending their own property because they are afraid violence will increase.
I am not disagreeing that persons should not be able to protect their property and lives, especially from thieving scumbags. The problem here is when defense turns to excessive. Once a threat is neutralized anything beyond that can be considered excessive. For instance if after a chop to the head the thief starts to beg for his life and you continue to chop its off to jail for you. However in the past case where a robber was killed by a single gunshot to the gut, the homeowner did not fire again because he determined the threat had been neutralized and received no jail time. Very thin line and different for each situation. Perhaps a baseball bat with a solid shot to the arm or leg is sufficient to deter them from ever coming back. Just have to know when to stop. Public flogging should be a thing, not enough to injure but a good proper embarrassment, now that would be a good deterrence.
how many chops are legal!
This man is wrong for protecting his belongings that he worked so hard for? Like really now? Ahh boy, it would’ve been better just to not protect himself nor his things right? Just let the lil mongrel rob him then report it to the police who in fact WON’T do anything about it. I’m telling ya, the one I catch in my yard CHURCHILL OR BODDEN is coming for him and that’s guaranteed just as sure as God made green apples. I’ll always assume they came to kill so I’m gonna get him or them first. So sick of hearing/reading about these lil thieves that won’t even try to get a job. Instead they rather build a criminal record so they themselves make sure they are out of work. No Ambition whatsoever!! At least try to go fishing, plant some season peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes and things like that or something na. Try something rather than stealing from honest people. Unna remember what happened to that dude Harry? The next one that gets it WILL GET IT WORSE THAN HE DID FOR SURE!!
Wait for the sentencing before we adjudicate this plea deal. Another news report suggests he plead guilty after learning what the likely maximum sentence (not likely sentence) would be. It MAY be that he took this charge to avoid the risk of a more serious one if it went to court. Despite our feelings on the minimal information available (robber gets chopped with machete) there may be details (I don’t know) that make it less cut-and-dried in court.
If he goes to jail Cayman should raise hell with marches . The man was defending his hard earned property
Silliest story I ever read. Pity he did not have a gun, saved us all money and time.
I understand in some parts of the USA it’s legal to shoot someone trying to steal your vehicle. The logic being that a stolen vehicle is potentially a lethal weapon. Whatever, it sure prevents re-offending!
Yes, excessive self-defense….. Therefore, when someone breaks into your house in the middle of the night, you should never presume the perpetrator is violent or that your life could be in danger….. until their either they either shoot you, stab you or kill you.
Typical UK socialist logic.
What the **** has socialist logic got to do with it. You really need to read more and talk less.
It would be interesting to learn the name of the robber (the person who shot Dexter Bodden) and to learn why there appears to be no charges against the assailant.
He needs to get a better lawyer, and whoever pushed these charges forward need to eb fired.
He should demand a jury trial and I hope I am selected.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Hopefully both parties involved get just punishments for their wicked acts.
I hope if you get robbed you’re happy with sitting back and watching a criminal help themselves to your hard earned possessions. I hope if they then attack you and you refuse to defend yourself, that your medical bills won’t be paid for with my tax money.
I see nothing excessive about what he did. Once you cross the threshold of another persons property, uninvited, with bad intentions, you put your life in their hands and deserve every thing that happens to you.
What? Has the would be thief been charged? Or have we become so bent in our thinking that we now must blame the person for protecting himself and his property. And he was only charged AFTER he started to complain that the courts had done nothing about him being SHOT! Is this a Joke??
Agreed – this is all kinds of fishy… I have not read anything in this story that would suggest this man did not act lawfully given the threat to his property and at one point his life…
I vehemently disagree with the charges this man received.When someone come on your property to steal your belongings,then they deserved all the punishment that they received whether excessive or not.The law needs revamping.
He shoot of chopped the burglar into pieces and the scum who protect such individuals.
It should never be excessive if someone was trespassing. Especially in this case, he was shot first. Gun vs a machete. Come on now! There is no comparison.
Please reread the article. The machete and the gun were different incidents.
See? This is why people argue. If you do not have all the facts, you could read the article and be more informed.
I don’t understand why the criminal is being protected here. It may have been excessive but realistically the criminal trespassing and fear of what could happen with the owner, his property and possibly his family warrants protecting himself and property by any means.
If we keep this pretence up criminals will feel they can steal or trespass without recourse. Some may even enjoy the jail time. But knowing a homeowner has the right to protect themselves is a deterrent.
In Cayman the Christians want you to bend over, sorry, I mean turn the other cheek when someone comes to rob you with a gun. If you try to protect yourself, you’re a criminal too.
Another Cayman Cowboy!.
Dexter who made you say what you said?
Do you know the amount of grieving people on this Island that envy your opportunity.
So you can’t even defend yourself and your property where you’re supposed to feel safe. Trespassers and thieves need to be deterred. What a shitshow this place is.
So when will the investigation and trial start surrounding who shot dexter then ? Even after he gave sound evidence as to motive and possible perpetrators.
If Mr. Bodden genuinely believed that his own life was in danger then the wounds that he inflicted with his machete were not excessive. Mr. Bodden needs to get an Attorney that has experience with these types of matters.
Only in Cayman
Sorry, when you are on someone’s property stealing stuff in the middle of the night, you deserve what you get.
with all all the robberys and assaults going on i would of reacted this same way to someone on my property stealing my truck. my truck with my tools is my livelyhood. these thugs out stealing should not be protected.
So where does the shooting stand?