• Twitter
  • Facebook
News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

She wasn't bluffing

Assisted suicide cases usually involve acquiescing to a loved one's request for help in ending unendurable pain or misery. Then there's the case of former Harrison County police officer John Britton, who has reached a plea agreement in the assisted suicide of his wife:

Prosecutors allege that Britton and his wife, Christine, who was a county corrections officer, were arguing in March 2009 when she threatened to kill herself. Britton told investigators that he put his handgun on the bed, told her to go ahead and left the room. He then heard a gunshot.

Britton told prosecutors he didn't expect her to actually shoot herself.

Not sure about that plea agreement. He's now facing up to three years instead of up to eight years, so it's not that much of a bargain, and it seems to me the prosecution would have had a tough time making a case. Most of us have at least heard about (if not been personally involved in) arguments that escalated to the point where somebody mades a dire threat and the other party called what may or may not have been a bluff.

Quantcast