The REAL problem with this case was the Goetz running off at the mouth, and filing appellate briefs, in retrospect, were a serious mistake. It often happens that a lower court will give the person a wrist slap sentence. When appealed, the case comes back, and, the sentencing is ordered to comply with the guidelines in law, that the sentencing judge may have ignored, figuring the case would not ever go to the appellate court.
When the appellate court sends it back, it CHANGES the ruling on reasonable belief that your life is in danger. Prior, it was totally based, real or not, on the belief of the person being attacked. With the Goetz case, they add an
'objective', after the fact component. In other words, the court gives itself the right to throw the defense out, if, while sitting in their comfy chambers, the judge, or judges feel the victim over-reacted.
I've been in a similar spot, cornered by 3 huge, and I mean 6 3 and above, 250 pounds and above black men, in a bathroom, by myself. Simply coke and alcohol, making them want to beat up the white guy, since they think he's a friend of the manager that just threw them out of the bowling alley. I survived, with about 15 stiches, from getting hit over the head with a Walther PPKS. My martial arts training saved me. Wonder how many others here would have simply been dead or beaten to a pulp in the bathroom? I REALLY don't like the Monday morning quarterback stuff, since you have to make a decision based on the initial event, being cornered, and how you are going to deal with it. That choice is instantly changed when the guy whips open the coat, and you see the gun. It happens in under a second...
Goetz made his decision, based on prior experience, and, from subsequent testimony, he was right: the guys intended to rob him, and rob has a component of physical violence. 4-5 on one can maim and kill you, if the guys know what they are doing, very quickly...