The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Vermont: Self Defense or Did Lady Die of an OD

mehavey · January 9, 2012, 08:57 AM

VERGENNES — An attorney representing the family of Yemalla Sprauve,
the woman killed while allegedly trying to rob a Vergennes convenience store in September,
...Sprauve’s death has prompted prosecutors to revisit language that outlines when the
use of deadly force is justified.

Sprauve, 34, of Vergennes, died Sept. 28 of cardiac arrhythmia — an irregular heartbeat
— while a male clerk at the Champlain Farms store on Main Street held her down and
compressed her chest, according to the Vermont Medical Examiner’s Office and police
reports. ...Sprauve was also “acutely intoxicated with cocaine” at the time, her death
certificate states. ...State’s Attorney David Fenster, who said Thursday that he intends
to assess, over the upcoming weeks, whether the clerk acted in self-defense when he
killed Sprauve. The report includes video footage of the attempted robbery and subsequent
struggle, police said.

Sprauve had wielded a knife and masked her face during the early morning robbery
attempt, police said. She was unresponsive when authorities arrived, and was later
pronounced dead at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, police said.

Looking at the description above, I'm confused as to how "use of deadly force" even enters into the equation. The woman--high on cocaine and wielding a knife--was subdued and restrained by the clerk, ...not shot, choked, stabbed or otherwise subject to the normal definition of "deadly force." That she died of her own vulnerability to cardiac arrest due to drugs, and during the course of her own violent felony, make this article nonsensical.

January 9, 2012, 08:57 AM	#2
mehavey Senior Member Join Date: June 17, 2010 Location: Virginia Posts: 6,882	VERGENNES — An attorney representing the family of Yemalla Sprauve, the woman killed while allegedly trying to rob a Vergennes convenience store in September, ...Sprauve’s death has prompted prosecutors to revisit language that outlines when the use of deadly force is justified. Sprauve, 34, of Vergennes, died Sept. 28 of cardiac arrhythmia — an irregular heartbeat — while a male clerk at the Champlain Farms store on Main Street held her down and compressed her chest, according to the Vermont Medical Examiner’s Office and police reports. ...Sprauve was also “acutely intoxicated with cocaine” at the time, her death certificate states. ...State’s Attorney David Fenster, who said Thursday that he intends to assess, over the upcoming weeks, whether the clerk acted in self-defense when he killed Sprauve. The report includes video footage of the attempted robbery and subsequent struggle, police said. Sprauve had wielded a knife and masked her face during the early morning robbery attempt, police said. She was unresponsive when authorities arrived, and was later pronounced dead at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, police said. Looking at the description above, I'm confused as to how "use of deadly force" even enters into the equation. The woman--high on cocaine and wielding a knife--was subdued and restrained by the clerk, ...not shot, choked, stabbed or otherwise subject to the normal definition of "deadly force." That she died of her own vulnerability to cardiac arrest due to drugs, and during the course of her own violent felony, make this article nonsensical.