Race and Cannabis Victimize Victim
On October 11, 2021, a man assaulted single-mother Chirine Touati and her son Zayden in their home. In an act of charity, Chirine had invited the homeless man to stay in her home temporarily. That act of charity now haunts Chirine and Zayden and highlights the deep prejudices of Utah’s justice system. Chirine is a woman of color and a medical cannabis card holder. This story takes place in Utah County.
Helping a Stranger
In September 2021, Zayden befriended a homeless man named Victor. Chirine kindly agreed the man could stay at her place while finding another place to live. Victor wore out his welcome, and was asked to leave toward the end of the second week. He did move out, but left his belongings. Chirine boxed up his belongings and stored them in her attached garage, so Victor would have no reason to enter the house.
On October 11, 2021, Victor returned to Chirine’s residence to retrieve his belongings. He insisted some of his belongings were missing and wanted to enter the house. Chirine offered to look inside for the missing items. Victor then attacked Chirine and tried to force his way into the house.
Zayden intervened to protect his mother. Zayden warned Victor that he was armed. Victor continued to physically resist and attempted to enter the home. He then punched Zayden in the face, breaking his nose. At this point, Zayden shot Victor. Victor survived and recovered. Chirine sustained several injuries from the assault.
Police Response
Chirine called the authorities. When police arrived, they saw the firearm and cannabis. Even though both the firearm and cannabis were legally possessed, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and seized the items. Zayden was arrested and charged with attempted murder. He is currently out on bond.
Motion to Dismiss
In May, Zayden’s lawyer filed a Motion to Dismiss, based on Utah County’s failure to disprove defense of others, self-defense, and/or defense of habitation. In other words, the prosecution failed to consider Zayden’s actions were in self-defense of himself and his mother and, therefore, legally justified.
Under Utah law, a defendant has sufficiently raised a claim of self-defense “when there is a basis in the evidence which would provide some reasonable basis for the jury to conclude that the defendant acted to protect themselves from an imminent threat.” To state what should be obvious, this defense applies in Utah County and to people of color.
The Utah County prosecutor’s office was contacted by the Utah Bee, but did not reply.
Watch for future updates on this case at The Utah Bee
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