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Homeowner Struggles With Legal Bills After Being Sued by Home Intruder He Shot

Rachel StockmanMar 10th, 2016, 7:55 am
 

homeownerIn what might be the most egregious abuse of the court system, a home intruder filed a lawsuit against a San Francisco man after being shot.

“This is my biggest issue, our judicial system allows these people to have right to try to sue,” Joe Balistreri told KPIX 5, adding that he is now struggling with mounting legal bills. The incident happened back in March 2012 when Balistreri was spending the night at his parent’s home.

“I heard the noise coming from the front door. I heard clicking, rattling of the door handle. I woke up my father, told him someone’s trying to break in your house, where’s your gun?” Balistreri told the television station. He says the home intruder entered his parent’s house through the garage. After coming face-to-face with the very tall man and fearing for his safety, Balistreri said he fired three shots.

“There was no knocking, there was no announcement, there was no nothing,” he said.

The home intruder claims he was just drunk and accidentally stumbled into the house. The judge sided with Balisteri, but the man launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for the lingering legal costs.  No charges were ever filed in case.

[h/t and screengrab via KPIX]

 

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Rachel Stockman - President / On Air Host

Rachel Stockman is President of Law&Crime which includes Law&Crime Productions, Law&Crime Network and LawAndCrime.com. Under her watch, the company has grown from just a handful of people to a robust production company and network producing dozens of true crime shows a year in partnership with major networks. She also currently serves as Executive Producer of Court Cam, a hit show on A&E, and I Survived a Crime, a new crime show premiering on A&E this fall. She also oversees production of a new daily syndicated show Law&Crime Daily, which is produced in conjunction with Litton Entertainment. In addition to these shows, her network and production company produce programs for Facebook Watch, Cineflix and others. She has spent years covering courts and legal issues, and was named Atlanta Press Club's 'Rising Star' in 2014. Rachel graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Yale Law School.

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