马萨诸塞州米德尔塞克斯县纳蒂克市上诉法院10月27日维持斧头追逐案定罪，被告称自卫未获采信
马萨诸塞州米德尔塞克斯县纳蒂克市一家商店内发生的斧头追逐案，10月27日有了终审层面的结果：马萨诸塞州上诉法院维持了被告肖恩·N·佩尔弗里以危险武器袭击罪的定罪，驳回了他关于证据不足的上诉理由。案发于2024年5月23日上午，地点是纳蒂克市一家伯灵顿外套工厂店。陪审团认定的事实是，佩尔弗里在店内向一名男子索要钱财被拒后，持斧头追入员工专用后区，一名员工张开双臂挡在他面前时，他表示「必须做他不得不做的事」，店长随即疏散员工并报警，警方后来从他的背包中起获斧头和一把弯刀。佩尔弗里辩称工具是工作所用，且自己是在对方先以扫帚和枪相威胁后出于自卫才追赶。上诉法院认为，无论按企图殴打还是即时威胁殴打两种理论，证据都已足够：持斧追逐、言语表态以及受害人逃入限制区域、事后神情惊恐，均可支持定罪推断。这份未公布的简要裁决按规则仅具说服力、不构成有约束力的先例。
Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Hatchet-Chase Conviction in Natick on October 27; Self-Defense Claim Rejected
Natick, Middlesex County, Massachusetts — A hatchet chase inside a Natick store reached an appellate result on October 27: the Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld Sean N. Pelfrey's conviction for assault by means of a dangerous weapon and rejected his argument that the evidence was insufficient. The incident occurred on the morning of May 23, 2024, at a Burlington Coat Factory store in Natick. The jury found that after a man refused Pelfrey's request for money, Pelfrey chased him with a hatchet into an employee-only back area; when an employee stepped in front of him with arms outstretched, he said he "needed to do what he has to do," and the store manager evacuated staff and called police, who later recovered a hatchet and a machete from his backpack. Pelfrey testified that the tools were for work and that he acted in self-defense after the man first threatened him with a broomstick and a gun. The Appeals Court held the evidence sufficient under both theories of assault — attempted battery and immediately threatened battery — citing the chase, the statement, and the victim's flight into a restricted area and shaken demeanor afterward. The unpublished summary decision is, by rule, persuasive only and not binding precedent.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：马萨诸塞州纳蒂克市（资料图）。Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger) 摄，Public domain，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: Natick, Massachusetts (file photo). By Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
